The number 1 mistake that the majority new entrepreneurs make is their focus towards making money.
The initial focus of a business is a major determining factor towards the success or failure of it. When you go into entrepreneurship focused on money, your success rates are dramatically decreased. The reason behind this is because money is one of the last results of a successful business.
Starting a business is very different from starting a job. When you start your job, you get paid right away, however when you start a business that is not the case. In some cases, it could take months or even years before any real profits are shown in the business.
Remember, if your business is not profitable immediately, it does not mean that it is a failure.
If instant money is all that you are looking for, then your best bet is to find a high paying job. You will probably dislike the work you do but you’ll get what you wished for!
When starting a business, you need to focus on solving a problem. Not just any problem, but a problem that bothers you internally. That way when you are working endlessly on the business, your mental reward circuit in your brain will be focused on gaining results that will bring you one step closer to solving the problem and not on the money you will be making from it.
Let’s take a lesson from history. When Steve Jobs founded Apple, his initial intention was not to make money. His intention was to create a world class computer company. If Jobs and Wozniak only wanted to make money, there is a much higher chance that they would have underdeveloped their first product and brought it to market too early, in hopes of high profits. Instead, they focused on creating the best possible computer that they could make with their abilities before bringing it to the public eye. Clearly that method worked out well for them.
When you focus on solving a problem, you attach passion, drive, and dedication towards a cause. By having those characteristics become the fueling force behind your business, your chances of success are drastically increased.