The remaining 10 common startup mistakes are:

* Not hiring right away
* Getting to year 1, past year 2
* Not getting involved in the community
* Working in your business instead of on it
* Going wide instead of deep into a niche
* Not using email marketing
* Having a lack of ambition
* Failing to network with others
* Growing too quickly

#10: Not Thinking Survival

Too many people think that so long as everything is done “textbook” and they have the proper set up, and plans down on paper, that they will succeed. Also, many people have the idea that it is easy to keep it up after they get an initial consumer base. Not true. small businesses are small fish in a big pond, constantly competing against emerging and growing bigger competitors that have the backing, both monetarily and resourcefully, to push them out of the picture.”

#9: Being Overly Enthusiastic and Not Having Realistic Goals

“A few mistakes that I personally made was the lack of focus on a targeted marketing plan, and the miscalculation on future expected growth.”

#8: Not Looking At Your Competition

“I think it is a big mistake to start a business without really understand the market.”

#7: Not Marketing Your Business / Expecting People To Come To You

“A few mistakes that I personally made was the lack of focus on a targeted marketing plan, and the miscalculation on future expected growth.”

#6: Losing Momentum

“Being satisfied and content with functioning can lead to “big headedness” and false hope that it will always be this way. You need to constantly improve your product/service, research your around-the-clock changing market and competition, and promote innovation and forward progress amongst your management and team.”

#5: Not Seeking Mentors

“I think having a mentor - a much more experienced entrepreneur that can give you some valuable advice is so IMPORTANT…especially when you are a young and overly ambitious… and with so many challenges to meet on the way to success.”

#4: Doing It All Alone

“Lots of CEO personalities think they have to be the answer to all problems, and this is not the case. Their pride and mindset of “I must live up to this role” is skewed and they may fail to tap the most important and valuable resources that surround them in their management team and affiliates.”

#3: Not Having Enough Money

“I think this is big for those businesses that have the incentive to only reap the benefits and not focus on the longevity of your venture. Taking out $10k now may prevent making $100k in a few months. Mindsets should not be “Yeah I own a buiness I make this much” but rather “Yeah I own a business, we invested in XYZ and were able to afford this new service/expand here/etc” Also, too many people plan on the basic expenses of starting up, and don’t think about the increased expense that come with a more successful, growing, developing business.”

#2: Surrounding Yourself With People Who Don’t Believe In Your Idea

“Another mistake would be surrounding yourselves with people (whether by accident or because they’re family, etc) who don’t believe in your idea. You need to be around positive feedback all the time.”

#1: Not Having a Clear Plan or Vision

“The biggest mistake people make is not looking far enough ahead in your market. So many businesses are losing ground to new technologies as example, so think ahead on how to better utilize these new technologies. With the current recession, how many planned for it? Every business will go through cycles of growth and market demize, just as we are all now seeing, so again, think ahead, have vision beyond today is one of the keys to success.”

Top 20 Entrepreneurs Mistakes

I read this on GetEntrepreneurial.com So for the next 20 day I will give you one a day.

Young Entrepreneur: After polling our Young Entrepreneur readers, here is our list of the top 20 mistakes that startups make when creating a new business. I’ve also included a few of the comments that were left for some of the top points.

4) Punish Yourself For Not Sticking With It.

This may seem a little weird, but it will work if you give it a chance to. For example, let's say that you need to get something done by a certain date and you don't. To make things more productive for you, punish yourself for not getting it done! I personally love those Little Debbie "Star Crunch" cakes. I usually have one every day. One time I told myself, I said, "Self, if I can't eat a Star Crunch unless I get these webpages uploaded by 5:20 today!". And when 5:20 came, I didn't have it done. So I punished myself for not completing the task by the time I set. I didn't eat one that day. Let's say you have a favorite TV show you absolutely love watching. You must complete 3 things on your list before you can watch it. And stick with it! Believe it or not, it actually works! But only if you stick with it.

Having many distractions can make things a bit more difficult with productivity when spending your time online. The first things to do to solve the time management problem is to identify what things are keeping you from being productive in your online business. The next step is to avoid these things at all costs. The hardest part is identifing these distractions. But after you do, more than half the battle is already over! I wish you much success with your businss and all your on and offline goals!

3) Give Yourself A Break!

This may sound a little contradictory, but it's very true. If you have been working consistently for a few hours online, and find yourself to be slipping into the "dull glare" mode, give yourself a break. Step away from your computer for 30 mintues, and move around. Go to the fridge and grab a nice cold drink, and relax a bit. When you get done, you will feel more fresh and will be more focused on your list that you've already made to complete your daily business tasks.

2) Set a time Limit

Let's say you spend on average 2 hours browsing forums and discussion boards on a daily basis. Is this really necessary? I mean, there are alot of good resources out the on forums, and you get to interact with like-minded individuals.. but is this helping your business?

The best way to stick to a plan is by giving yourself a specific amount of elotted time for each activity you conduct online. If you normally spend 2 hours in forums, and think this is simply taking too much away from your business, set a limit on how much you do it. Say to yourself, "Ok Jason, I will participate in forums for no more than 45 minutes. From exactly 12:15 to 1:00 today, I will spend this time browsing forums and being an active member." And stick with it!

1) Make A List:

You've probably heard this before and with good reason! Write the things you need to do with your business down on a piece of paper. List in order the things by two factors. One is the importance, and the second is which of the things you least would like to do.

Once you have your list, put them in order of the things most important and are you're least favorite at the very top of the list. This way, the more important things that need to be done will get done first, and you won't procrastinate because it's written down. As you progress with your list, you'll find that the last things you need to do will go by very quickly because you'll enjoy doing it.

Time Management For Home Business Owners

As each day passes, and more and more things need to get done with your business, you may find yourself alittle overwhelmed with how much is left to be done. This is nothing new, and a problem that almost every home business owner encounters.

There are too many things to do, and such little time! So how does one get all of these things done without interfering with family and friends time? The answer is simple enough, but not very easy to do. It's called Time Management. Managing your time to make your time spent during "business hours" the most productive it can be.

There are many distractions when running an online business that many people easily become victims of. Some at home examples are things that consist of your everyday. Things like the chores that need tending to, eager kids simply wanting your attention, the television blaring, dogs barking, errands that need to be ran, and on down the line.

Some classic examples of distractions that occur online are not as easy to identify, but can consume many hours if you're not aware of this. A good example includes just "surfing" for something, and you get sidetracked and end up reading something that you weren't even looking for to begin with! Another classic example is how many times you check your email a day, or how much time has passed before you last checked it. How much time do you spend visiting discussion boards or online communities? What about the emails you respond to? How much of your time is consumed by that? These are all examples of distractions that can get in the way of your businesses productivity.

Google Me Baby

If it a sign that you have actually “made it” when your name is incorporated into a song, then I would say that Google is there…not that there was really any doubt. I heard Teyana Taylor’s new song “Google Me Baby” on MTV Hits today, and thought it would be fun to share…