10 stupid mistakes to avoid

Steve Pavlina has published a post on his blog setting out “10 Stupid Mistakes Made by the Newly Self-Employed“.  It is one of those articles you read with a growing sense of dread (you know, the kind that fills you with a chill before you recognise the gems hidden between the lines) as you realise that you may have committed most, if not all, of these “stupid mistakes”.  Matt Homann published a handy summary of the 10 Stupid Mistakes on his blog:

Steve Pavlina sets out 10 Stupid Mistakes Made by the Newly Self-Employed.  They are a worthwhile read (go to the post for his explanation of each), even if you’ve been self-employed for a long time.  I know I still make a few of these stupid mistakes.  How about you?

    1.  Selling to the wrong people.

    2.  Spending too much money.

    3.  Spending too little money.

    4.  Putting on a fake front.

    5.  Assuming a signed contract will be honored.

    6.  Going against your intuition.

    7.  Being too formal.

    8.  Sacrificing your personality quirks.

    9.  Failing to focus on value creation.

    10.  Failing to optimize.

Reading through the list I cringe at number 4.  My posts are littered with the Royal “we”.  Perhaps there is some truth in what Pavlina says:

Some newly self-employed people think they must become actors.

This is definitely worth a read but make sure you are sitting down.  Pavlina doesn’t sugar coat anything and at the same time see the list for what it is, a magnifying glass over areas you can work on to the ultimate benefit of your business.  For my part, I’ll ditch the “we” until there really is a “we”.  Sorry about that!

(via SoloBlawg)

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