Mistakes Done by an Entrepreneur & Steps to Avoid Them

Prepared by: T.Y. BBA; Div II Group No.: 18 Anjali (68) Aariz (73) Sharanya (88) Shivani (83) Anjali (78)

Introduction
Entrepreneurship is more than simply starting a business. The term entrepreneurship means: a process through which individuals identify opportunities, allocate resources, and create value. This creation of value is often through the identification of unmet needs or through the identification of opportunities for change. Entrepreneurs see problems as opportunities, then take action to identify the solutions to those problems and the customers who will pay to have those problems solved. Entrepreneurial success is simply a function of the ability of an entrepreneur to see these opportunities in the market place, initiate change (or take advantage of change) create value through solutions. Entrepreneurs can make a simple shift in their thinking to drastically impact the way they look at their business and the natural business cycle. The way of thinking can be summed up as: think of your business as you would a stock you own and your time as the currency invested in the stock. Successful stock market investors are disciplined and objective. They decide at the outset of their investments at what point they will buy, sell or hold a stock. Investors who inevitably lose money are emotional and do not adhere to an investment plan. Characteristics of an entrepreneur

Ability to bear risk, Technical knowledge about production techniques and marketing, Ability to gather financial and motivational resources Ability to build a sound organization. Innovative i.e introduction of something new to the nation (e.g: Dhirubhai Ambani, Indian entrepreneur); Imitating i.e. one who adopts a method of production or technology already adopted by someone else and may not be able to afford resources for entrepreneurial research; Fabien i.e those who are cautious in adopting any changes and are shy and lazy to adopt new methods

What if I fail? That is undoubtedly the biggest question on mind as one establishes his own business. As an entrepreneur, one is excited about his new business venture. He also knows the possibility of failure looms. Given the time, money and effort that it takes to start a business, not to mention the high rates of small business failure, it is a wonder that anyone ventures out on their own. It is monumentally challenging to convince prospective investors and lenders that ones idea is worthy of the risk they will take while one has his own questions about the business viability. Despite these obstacles, most entrepreneurs, will have no problem developing their business, getting excited about its prospects, and sharing their excitement with others. Like many entrepreneurs one may establish his company with the best of all worlds in mind and fail to consider what will happen when the worst of all worlds happens. An old maxim warns: When you fail to plan, you plan to fail. The Remedy: Spend adequate time thinking through the business in advance. The risks attendant to starting ones own business can be minimized by analyzing mistakes made by other entrepreneurs and avoiding them. The more time you spend minimizing risk, the happier you and your investors will be. Here are some of the common mistakes committed by entrepreneurs: Management Mistakes Lack Of Experience Poor Financial Control Weak Marketing Efforts Failure To Develop Strategic Plan Uncontrollable Growth Poor Location Improper Inventory Control Incorrect Pricing Entrepreneurial Transition

CASE STUDY Success to Failure.. R. Subramaniam

The managing director of Subhiksha R SUBRAMANIAM did his graduation from IIT Chennai and post graduation from IIM Ahmadabad and later joint city group in 1989 and worked for royal Enfield in Chennai for 2 years from 1989-1991. After that he chose to be an entrepreneur and started a retail shop Subhiksha in 1997 with an investment of just Rs. 4 lakhs. The venture was in grocery which was quickly diversified in medicine and retail as well. The USP of these stores were the discount pricing (a take on wall mart, USA)

Failure of Subhiksha
Unmindful expansion o Across states from south to west and north and east, there was a rapid store expansion. o Rapid increase in personnel. o From grocery and medicinesmobiles and electronicsto consumer durables and IT, diversification took place. (too fast too furious) o Huge investment and cash flows. Growthwithout consolidation o 2004 marked the departure in subhiksha philosophy from consolidation and growth to uncontrolled growth!! o Very few stores were profitable in terms of cash flows.

Wither retail management o The focus was towards multiplying the turnover. o Expansions happen without an eye to principles in retail and customer management. o Staff service was shoddy and stores lacked a healthy appeal to customers. o A subhiksha store often looked liked government uniform pricing store.

 Profit and loss? Balancesheet? Cashflow ! Uncontrolled increase in stores and personnel were bleeding the treasury. o Turnover being the mantra, subhiksha worked on slim and zero margins, often invoking the wrath of other players in the market. o Thus cash outflows were high whereas inflows in terms of margins were nonexistent.
o

Mastering the supply chain o A wall mart bills scale through integrated supply chain, not by being a re-seller! o Downstream supply chain was not integrated o Bulk buying is not a source of advantage. o In effect, subhiksha was being a re-seller buying products from vendors and selling them at zero margins.

Managing vendors o Subhiksha tried to build scale on bulk quantity purchases from vendors and a liberal credit term extended to them. o Your vendors only have a limited leashexpecting huge credit cycles to make up for return on investments is hardly good vendor management Inventory management o Credit defaults caused supply breakages o Hence it led to situations where either there were huge store inventories going bad o or the stores simply did not have stocks! o Inconsistency resulted in customer dissatisfaction with store franchise! o Furthermore, unrestrained practices like reselling to other retailers, made companies squeeze supplies. o In rush to earn return on investment and turnover, subhikhsa stores were resorting to indiscipline and wasteful practices. Discounts as USP o The only USP was discounthardly a competitive edge. o Footfalls turn around and turnover being the guru mantra: Subhiksha

never understood its customers. In a rush to build turnarounds and turnover and meet targets, lower level managers resorted to reselling it to retailers and emptying their inventories. In effect, target pressure impacted the USP since consumers chose to buy from outside the stores since the store was sold out.

Quality of ground level management o Personnel recruited to run operations were locals. o Tendency towards dishonest practices in face of turnover pressure! o Scored own goals by playing into the turnover traps. o Quality of store service was bad, adherence to rules of retail were minimal. Diffused focus o Subhiksha sold fresh vegetables, medicines, groceries, mobile phones, accessories and morewhere was the focus? o How Robust was the business model and the man power to handle such diversity? o Did they ever stop to catch a breath and consolidate?

11 Deadly mistakes many young entrepreneurs make

1. No Clear Goal/Vision One very deadly mistake common among young entrepreneurs is the lack of vision. Many young entrepreneurs venture into business without giving any thought on its implications, they dont know what they want to achieve and they dont know what it takes to achieve it. Achieving business success has a lot to do with your person and one fundamental truth is that your goals/vision can mould you up. If your goal is to build the biggest company in the world and all you do is sit down and play games morning and night you should know that you are going nowhere. As a young entrepreneur you should make sure you have clear goals for your business, you should know what you want to achieve from the very beginning and you shouldnt spend your time beating around the bush. Aside having great goals you should also make your goals and vision clear to those working with you, if they know what you want to achieve they will know how much effort they need to put in to make it a success. 2. Lack of Focus This particular mistake is a killer and has destroyed the future of many young entrepreneurs. Every now and then young entrepreneurs can be seen starting so many businesses without waiting for one to succeed. Business success is not about you having 20-30 businesses; it is about you having a successful business. There is no point in you having 50 businesses if none of them succeeds.

You should also realize that results dont come overnight so you should make sure you focus on one business model for a long time before giving up on it. Dont expect to start a business and get results in one month, give your business a minimum of 6 months, and if possible years, before deciding if it is for you or not. 3. Unwilling to Admit Faults It is one thing to make a mistake, it is another thing to admit and correct that mistake. There is no how you can correct a mistake you dont admit to. One major mistake young entrepreneurs make is that they are not willing to admit their faults, they believe their business, ideas and everything they do is the best thereby turning deaf ears to the advice of others. It always help to admit and correct your mistakes when you discover them because this will help you avoid terrible dangers in the future. Always give ears to what others have to say and dont pretend as if you know all or as if your decision is perfect, always listen to others, admit, correct and learn from your mistakes. 4. Not Listening Another very deadly mistake young entrepreneurs make is that they dont listen, they just keep talking and talking and talking, little do they know that this kills rather than build them. Wise people dont talk much but there is always sense in the little they say. Talkative are seen as foolish people and so does many serious business people. If you are looking for sponsors or partners for your business and all you keep on doing is talking, a wise partner will not associate with you. There is power in listening and wise people say very few words and listen as much as they can. Dont be known as a talkative but listen and think very carefully before you talk. Another thing about listening is that it help you gain more respect as a young entrepreneur and it also help you avoid unnecessary troubles. People having negative intention will not want to move near someone who is very wise and if they see that you listen and dont talk they will become even more afraid of you.

5. Greed This deadly mistake has claimed the life of so many businesses. Many young entrepreneurs are so greedy that they venture into business only because of the money, it is these type of people who wont do proper research before starting their business, it is also these type of people who will sell their startups at a very small stage. If all you see about a business is the money you should know you are destined to fail. Dont just focus on the money you can get from a business, rather, focus on other important things, including the future of the business. 6. Talking, Talking and Doing Nothing If you are one of these types of entrepreneurs you will understand me better. There are some entrepreneurs who can talk about why their business idea is the best and how they wish to change the world with it but you will end up seeing them doing nothing. There is no point in you talking about your business when you are not ready to do something about it. It is even advisable not to talk about your business until it has materialized. No matter how great your idea is, your idea isnt a business until it has been developed; why not keep your talking until this stage. 7. Spending More Time on Developing and Less time on Selling This is another deadly mistake noticed among young entrepreneurs, especially online. It is very important not to focus all your efforts on providing quality products while doing less about marketing it, this will only kill your passion for your business. Try to realize that there is nothing perfect and while it is important to spend more time and give your best on making your product and business the best you should also realize that you truly cant know how great or perfect your business is until it is tested by the public. Focus 50% of your time on your product and 50% on marketing. It is important to realize that it doesnt matter how great your product is you will need to market it to get results. It is a suicide spending 90% of your time developing

quality products and 10% on marketing it. 8. No Business Plan Lack of business plan is another deadly mistake young entrepreneurs make, they start their business and do things how they want, failing to realize that this isnt the best way to go about a business. Having a business plan help make your business better because you already have an organized way to do things, there will be no wasting of time on things that doesnt matter. Having a business plan also help you know what will be the main source of revenue for your business and how the revenue should be spent, there will be no waste of revenue because you already know where your money should go. Another great advantage of a business plan is that it helps attract more people to your business. 9. Impatience If you have ever wondered why 80% of businesses fail then this is it. Lack of patience is a disease and it will only make sure you never have a successful business. Being patience is a virtue and it will help you build great businesses and opportunities. Your business wont go far if you are not patient because almost all the successful businesses we have now became successful years after they have been established. You should know as a young entrepreneur that there is nothing called overnight success, you have to work hard and wait patiently to achieve real success. It is also important not to relent in the process of waiting; you never know what will change your business forever. 10. No Enough Money Questions from many young entrepreneurs such as how can I get this for free? how can I get that for free? can be come across. Everybody know you are a young entrepreneur and you are not working so it wouldnt be easy to get funds but there are some things that you should never get for free. If you are planning to start

a website online stop looking for free domain names and hosting, they will disappoint you when you need them most. Instead of looking for free things you can rather focus on spending your time working part-time or doing some basic jobs to get the main funds you need to kickstart your business. You can also ask your friends, family members, and anybody you can ask for funds. Yes, it is not easy and no true success is easy to come by so you shouldnt expect to achieve success easily as an entrepreneur, you have to pay a great price for it. 11. Doing it Alone Not Getting Support from Others Young entrepreneurs love doing everything alone and this kill rather than build them. No serious entrepreneur will do everything alone so you should try to get support from as many people as you can, you shouldnt waste your time doing everything alone. When talking about doing it alone it is not about managing your business only but it also has to do with some external things that can affect your business. You shouldnt just work on building your business alone but rather get in touch with other successful entrepreneurs, network with them and let them know how important they are to you and how important you are to them. Two heads are truly better than one and you wouldnt go far doing things on your own, try to get support from others and your business will experience a great leap.

Case Study
17 Mistakes Start-ups Make!
John Osher has developed hundreds of consumer products, including an electric toothbrush that became America's best-selling toothbrush in just 15 months. He also started several successful companies, including Cap Toys. He built sales to $125 million per year and then sold the company to Hasbro Inc. in 1997. But his most lasting contribution to the business world just may be a list of screw-ups he jotted on the back of a piece of paper. After he sold my business to Hasbro, he decided hed make a list of everything he'd done wrong and [had] seen other entrepreneurs do wrong," explains the 57year-old Jupiter, Florida, serial entrepreneur. "I wanted to make a company that didn't make any of these mistakes. I wanted to see if I could come up with the perfect company." He came up with an informal list of "16 Mistakes Start-Ups Make"-since expanded to 17-that has been used in a Harvard Business School case study, has been cited in many publications, and has become a part of what he teaches budding entrepreneurs in his frequent university lectures. He also used the list in 1999 when he started Dr. John's SpinBrush to sell a $5 electric toothbrush that quickly became America's best-selling toothbrush. In 2001, Procter & Gamble purchased the company from him for $475 million. "I didn't expect it to actually work like that, but it did," Osher says. "It'll probably never happen again. But we made a perfect business, from the beginning to selling it to another company." Since then, however, Osher has created another product, an electric dish scrubber that he also sold to Procter & Gamble. And he has yet another health-and-beauty product-development effort underway-although he's keeping the details close to the vest-in which he'll try again to create the perfect business. To home in on what lies behind the 17 mistakes, Osher told Entrepreneur what they are and how you can learn from them to achieve your own level of perfection.

Mistake 1: Failing to spend enough time researching the business idea to see if it's viable. "This is really the most important mistake of all. They say 9 [out] of 10 entrepreneurs fail because they're undercapitalized or have the wrong people. I say 9 [out] of 10 people fail because their original concept is not viable. They want to be in business so much that they often don't do the work they need to do ahead of time, so everything they do is doomed. They can be very talented, do everything else right, and fail because they have ideas that are flawed." Mistake 2: Miscalculating market size, timing, ease of entry and potential market share. "Most new entrepreneurs get very excited over an idea and don't look for the truth about how many people will want to buy it. They put together financial projections as part of a presentation to pump up their investors. They say, 'The market size is 50 million people that could use this product, and if I could only sell to 2 percent of them, I'd be selling a million pieces.' But 2 percent of a market is a lot. Most products sell way less than 1 percent." Mistake 3: Underestimating financial requirements and timing."They set their financial requirements based on Mistake 1, and they go ahead and make a commitment to this much office space and this many computers, and hire a vice president of sales, and so on. Before they know it, based on sales projections that were wrong to start with, they have created costs that require those projections to be met. So they run out of money." Mistake 4:Over projecting sales volume and timing. "They have already miscalculated the size of the market. Now they over project their portion of it. They often say 'There are 200 million homes, and I need to sell [to] x number of them.' When you break it down, though, a much smaller number of those are really sales prospects. That makes it impossible to make their sales projections." Mistake 5: Making cost projections that are too low. "Their cost projections are always too low. Part of the reason is that they project much higher sales. There are also unknown reasons that always come out that usually make costs higher than planned. So on top of everything, their margins are now lower." Mistake 6: Hiring too many people and spending too much on offices and facilities. "Now you have lower sales, higher costs and too much overhead. These are the things that you see every day in companies that fail. And they all grow out of that first mistake: failing to research the size and viability of the opportunity."

Mistake 7: Lacking a contingency plan for a shortfall in expectations. "Even if you're realistic in your estimates to start, there are things that happen when you start a new business. Your sales ideas may be no good; bank rates may go up; there may be a shipping strike. These aren't the result of poor planning, but they happen. More often than not, entrepreneurs just feel that something will come along when they need it. They don't have contingency plans for it not working out at the size and time they want." Mistake 8: Bringing in unnecessary partners. "There are certain partners you need. For instance, you often need money, so you're going to need money partners. But too many times, the guy with the idea takes on all his friends as partners. Many people don't provide strategic advantages and don't warrant ownership. But they're all going to get 25 percent of the company. It's totally unnecessary, and it's a mistake. Before people are made partners, they have to earn it." Mistake 9: Hiring for convenience rather than skill requirements. "In my first business or two, I hired relatives. It was easy to do, but in many cases, they were the wrong people [for the job]. And it's hard to fire people, especially if they're relatives or friends. More time needs to be spent handpicking people based on skill requirements. You really need super-skilled people who can wear more than one hat. It just bogs you down when you hire people who can't do the job." Mistake 10: Neglecting to manage the entire company as a whole. "You see this happen all the time. They'll spend half their time doing something that represents 5 percent of their business. You have to have a view of your whole company. But too often, the person running it loses that view. They get involved in a part, and they don't manage the whole. Whether I do this product or that product, whether I hire somebody, [I consider] how they [will] fit long term and short term in the big picture. Constantly try to see your big picture." Mistake 11: Accepting that it's "not possible" too easily rather than finding a way. "I had an engineer who was a very good engineer, but with every toy we developed, he would say, 'You can't do it that way.' I had to be careful not to accept this too easily. I had to look further. If you're an entrepreneur, you're going to break new ground. A lot of people are going to say it's not possible. You can't accept that too easily. A good entrepreneur is going to find a way." Mistake 12: Focusing too much on sales volume and company size rather than profit. "Too much of your management is often based on volume and size. So many entrepreneurs want to say 'I have a company that's this big, with this many

people, this many square feet of space, and this much sales.' It's too much [emphasis] on how fast and big you can build a business rather than how much profit it can make. Bankers and investors don't like this. Entrepreneurs are so into creating and building, but they also have to learn to become good [businesspeople]." Mistake 13: Seeking confirmation of your actions rather than seeking the truth. "This often happens: You want to do something, so you talk about it with people who work for you. You talk to [your] family and friends. But you're only looking for confirmation; you're not looking for the truth. You're looking for somebody to tell you you're right. But the truth always comes out. So we [test] our products, and we listen to what [the testers] say. We give much more value to the truth than to people saying what we're doing is great." Mistake 14: Lacking simplicity in your vision. "Many entrepreneurs go in too many directions at once and do not execute anything well. Rather than focusing on doing everything right to sell to their biggest markets, they divide the attention of their people and their time, trying to do too many things at [one time]. Then their main product isn't done properly because they're doing so many different things. They have an idea and say they're going to sell it to Wal-Mart. Then they say they're going to sell to [the] Home Shopping Network. And then the gift market looks good. And so on." Mistake 15: Lacking clarity of your long-term aim and business purpose. "You should have an idea of what your long-term aim is. It doesn't mean that won't change, but when you aim an arrow, you have to be aiming at a target. This [concept will] often come up when people ask 'How do I pick a product?' The answer depends on what you're trying to do. If you're trying to [create] a billion-dollar company with this product, it may not have a chance. But if you're trying to make a $5 million company, it can work. Or if you're trying to create a company [in which] family members can be employed, it can work. Clarity of your business purpose is very important [but] is often not really part of the thought process." Mistake 16: Lacking focus and identity. "This was written from the viewpoint of building the company as a valuable entity. The company itself is also a product. Too many companies try to go after too many targets at once and end up with a potpourri rather than a focused business entity with an identity. When you try to make a business, it's very important to maintain a focus and an identity.

Don't let it become a potpourri, or it loses its power. For instance, you say, 'We're already selling to Kmart, so we might as well make a toy because Kmart buys toys.' If you do that, the company becomes weaker. A company needs to be focused on what it is. Then its power builds from that." Mistake 17: Lacking an exit strategy. "Have an exit plan, and create your business to satisfy that plan. For instance, I am thinking I might run my new business for two years and then get out of it. I think it's an opportunity to make a tremendous amount of money for two years, but I'm not sure [whether] it's proprietary enough to stop the competition from getting in. So I'm in with an exit strategy of doing it for two years and then winding down. I won't commit to long-term leases, and after the first year, we'll start watching the marketplace very closely and start watching inventories.

Steps to avoid mistakes in Entrepreneurship

You have to make it clear to everybody what you're doing and why you are doing it. You should avoid mistakes as much as possible. Everything and everyone has a certain purpose. As an entrepreneur, you're considered a "unique" individual. If you can clarify this to yourself, you will feel a surge of energy and enthusiasm. These things can attract prospective clients. Everything you do now is like a magnet that attracts energy. The next thing that you have to do in order to earn great profits is to establish your market. You should have an exact target for your products or services. You have to study the qualities of your customers so that you can make your own product or service stand out from your competitors. You should make use of every marketing material that you have to craft a significant message to your customers. You have to communicate with them honestly and authentically. Everything you do should be rooted in truthfulness and reliability. By doing this, you will attract more clients. With your energy, people will be drawn to you. Some entrepreneurs fail because of doubt and fear. They hesitate to take some risks involved in the business. They doubt their abilities and skills. This is a barrier that you should be able to knock down otherwise clients will shy away from you. The next thing is to organize your schedules. Prioritize your business obligations and responsibilities should be done at the right time and at the right order. You have to manage your time effectively. If you can develop and master this skill, it will mean more clients and definitely, more money. You have to have the right system for your business so that you can also have time away from work and be able to generate new ideas for other business ventures. You must have a system for your business operations, marketing, and offerings. Change is the only thing permanent in this world. You have to adjust your business ideas according to these changes. Try to see if the products or services you offer are still in demand.

 Some entrepreneurs live only for their business. They often forget about achieving the proper balance between personal and business life. You have to establish specific strategies so that you can enjoy your success in all aspects of your life. By following these steps, you will surely have a more successful business life and you can expect more money to come your way. Being an entrepreneur will surely give you more money that what you've ever imagined.

Early setbacks of some of the Famous Entrepreneurs

Many entrepreneurs have their business heroes. Some are revered not only for their spectacular successes but for the reversals they endured and subsequently overcame. With economic indicators for a strong business recovery still faint, it can be helpful to recall the early setbacks of some of the best-known entrepreneurs and what can be learned from them. Here's a look at iconic entrepreneurs, their early struggles and their eventual comebacks.

Henry Ford
Company: Ford Motor Co. Setback: Ford suffered a few failed automotive endeavors early in his career, including Detroit Automobile Co., which he started in 1899. Its cars were low quality and too pricey for average consumers. Turnaround: Ford continued to develop better auto designs and gained national acclaim in 1904 by demoing a car -- the "Ford 999" -- that broke the land-speed record by going a mile in about 40 seconds. In 1908, he released the Model T, a well-made, low-priced car that quickly gained traction with U.S. consumers. Annual sales topped $250,000 by 1914. Quote: "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't -- you're right." Lesson: Building a brand requires more than just building a good product.

 Frederick W. Smith
Company: Federal Express (now FedEx Corp.) Setback: After revolutionizing overnight mail delivery in the 1970s, Smith introduced an electronic delivery service, Zapmail, in 1984 to compete with fax machines. But Zapmail didn't draw the anticipated interest and cost the company nearly $350 million over two years. Turnaround: FedEx abandoned Zapmail in 1986 and the company refocused its energy on its core delivery business. The company generated $35 billion in revenue in 2010. Quote: "Leaders get out in front and stay there by raising the standards by which they judge themselves and by which they are willing to be judged." Lesson: Be willing to acknowledge failure, abandon bad ideas and move on.

Steve Jobs
Company: Apple Computer Setback: After his forced resignation from Apple in 1985, Jobs spent the following several years developing NeXT, a computer workstation for educators. But with a high price tag and reports of numerous bugs, sales never materialized. The company burned through hundreds of millions of investor dollars. Turnaround: Apple announced it would buy NeXT in 1996, bringing Jobs back to the company as interim CEO. He's since developed the iPod and iPad, making Apple one of the most successful Fortune 500 companies of the past decade. Quote: "You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they'll want something new."

Lesson: Having the right resources and people around you makes a big difference.

Martha Stewart

Company: Martha Stewart Living OmniMedia

Setback: She built her business from scratch and became a billionaire. But she made a mistake (insider trading) that negatively affected her reputation and landed her in jail.

Turnaround : Being an entrepreneur with guts; she refused to be cowed by her mistakes and she bounced back to fortune and fame. This is what she has to say about her mistake and resulting failure.

Quote: My new motto is: When you're through changing, you're through.

CONCLUSION
Avoiding ten mistakes made by budding and seasoned entrepreneurs alike will put you far ahead in the game. At the root of most of these mistakes is a lack of planning and a failure to check with reality. When you start out, you may operate in a state of euphoria. Nothing can possibly go wrong and no one else could possibly have your idea. While the latter may be true for the time being, the former is a delusion. In every new venture, something is bound to go wrong at some point, rarely will everything happen just as youve envisioned. An event may be catastrophic or seem hardly noticeable; in either cases there will be some effect on the business. So why should you even try to plan ahead? Most events are foreseeable, at least as to the probability of occurrence. When they are foreseeable, they are preventable, or, at least, their effects can be mitigated. Another well- known maxim: success comes about when preparation meets opportunity. A business caught without a plan or options is a business that will soon be gone.
To

err is human

So from this we want to convey that its humane to make mistakes. An Entrepreneur should be a good listener, a man of principles and a good strategic planner. He must try to avoid the mistakes and try that its repetition is minimal. As, a person learns from mistakes and failures not only of his own but also from others. At such a phase it is the optimistic approach of an entrepreneur that inspires him to think ahead and take risk to stand again and move towards growth. For an entrepreneur failure is a stepping stone and not a stopping stone. For him the mantra is: To Rise, Awake And Stop Not Till The Goal Is Achieved.

PREFACE
The document presents an overview of variety of mistakes that most entrepreneurs often make. It covers the major and the most common mistakes that are made by entrepreneurs during the course of their business. An attempt has also been made to throw light on the repercussions of these faulty decisions. How fatal they can end up being has also been tried to explain. The objective of the document is to provide the reader with knowledge of how and what kind of mistakes are done by entrepreneurs worldwide. Apart from this, an attempt has also been made in to show how to avoid making such blunders or how to overcome these. The document is also supported by case lets to showcasing the effects of non- identification of mistakes and cases in which mistakes have been identified & worked upon.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We hereby show our gratitude to M.S. University, BBA Program, Faculty of Commerce, for giving us with the opportunity to explore the entrepreneurial world. We also present our gratitude to Mr. Bharat Pathak, professor in-charge, for guiding us through this sea of entrepreneurship, without whom, learning wouldnt have been fun and interesting.