5 Mistakes to Avoid as an Early Stage Entrepreneur
- Anam
- Jun 11
- 4 min read
This article discusses 5 common mistakes that early stage social entrepreneurs make and how to avoid them.
Entrepreneurship is a powerful journey that allows entrepreneurs to grow and expand in their personal and professional development. However, for early-stage entrepreneurs, access to guidance and mentorship opportunities is not as accessible as it should be for all social entrepreneurs. They learn and grow through trial and error, sometimes the hard way. After all, enterprises do not succeed purely based on passion and hard work. They require strategic planning, leadership skills, and mentorship.
What if you could act as your own mentor and learn to deal with the potential blind spots before diving deep into your dream social enterprise? This will minimize the risk of failures and save you resources and time.
In this article, we will explore the five potential mistakes that are common among early-stage social entrepreneurs and how you can avoid them.
Make Informed Decisions
“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.” Michael Porter. It is fair to say that social entrepreneurs are driven and highly ambitious; at times you may be blinded by your ambition and run the risk of ignoring crucial facts and information that will impact your enterprise directly.
To make more informed decisions, use SWOT analysis before starting any new venture. A SWOT analysis is a technique for assessing four aspects of your business: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
A SWOT analysis serves as a solid foundation for strategic planning and decision-making processes. This process allows businesses to set realistic objectives, allocate resources effectively, and determine the most suitable course of action for their long-term success.
Business coaches and mentors frequently use this analysis in their workshops, helping individuals and organizations make objective decisions for decades. To learn to do a SWOT analysis, please visit Investopedia.com.
Set Realistic Goals and Expectations
Often early-stage entrepreneurs make the mistake of overpromising and under delivering. This directly relates to making impulsive, purpose-driven decisions. This results in establishing and conveying irrational expectations to the stakeholders involved in your project.
It's not that these social entrepreneurs don't want to fulfill their promises; it's just that they've set unrealistic expectations that are practically impossible to meet, which puts additional pressure on them and their organization.
Start with setting realistic goals and expectations. Break your goals down into bite-sized pieces that are realistically achievable based on timelines. Your stakeholders will appreciate your honesty. Keeping your promises will only strengthen your reputation within the community. Build a theory of change to map out how your venture will achieve impact step by step, aligning it with your capacity and resources.
Choose the Right Funding Strategy
Funding strategy and resource management are crucial aspects of your organization. Deciding how to finance your organization can be overwhelming. Self-funding, angel investors, grants, and accelerator programs are some of the common choices among most social entrepreneurs. Each option comes with its pros and cons. At the early stage of the organization, the entrepreneurs can be in a rush to procure the funding without realizing the long-term obligations of the funding program. This adds tremendous pressure on the organization to produce rapid returns.
Before making funding decisions, analyze your organization’s long-term goals, growth model, and funding terms. Grants could be a beneficial option if your social goal calls for a slower growth plan. Social bonds or impact investments might be better options for quicker scaling. Never undervalue the possibilities of bootstrapping, particularly in the beginning when adaptability and independence are essential.
Regulatory and Compliance
While regulatory and compliance issues are prevalent for start-ups globally, they are particularly complex and crucial for social enterprises operating in the MENA region. It’s common to miss them if you are laser focused on your agenda. However, neglecting the regulatory and compliance requirements, whether they pertain to intellectual property, contracts, or impact reporting requirements, can jeopardize your social enterprise.
To avoid these complications, consult with local legal experts before starting any new project. This could come at a fraction of the cost compared to the potential future damage it could cause. Identify the kind of organization—a nonprofit, cooperative, or hybrid model—that best fits your goals. Keep track of compliance, particularly with regard to labor regulations, impact reporting, and fundraising in your area.
Avoid Burnout
Your desire to make a difference in the community can easily influence your decisions. Many early-stage entrepreneurs often put in 10 to 12 hours a day, working in isolation. The pressure to succeed on these entrepreneurs is tremendous, as they have committed themselves to helping with real-world problems and vulnerable communities.
In my experience as a life coach who has been working with social entrepreneurs, it is my observation that founders neglect their wellbeing in the process, leading to exhaustion and, ultimately, burnout. They think that by doing this they can achieve higher productivity, but it's actually the opposite.
Prioritize your health. This includes taking breaks, not skipping meals, getting 7–8 hours of uninterrupted sleep, and maintaining a support system (friends and family). Social entrepreneurship can be a challenging and lonely road in the beginning. Prioritizing self-care and a positive support system can ensure that you have the mental and physical capacity to deal with these challenges. Furthermore, you should never underestimate the importance of having a strong support system—people who can inspire you and provide stability when you feel exhausted.
Consider participating in mentorship and coaching programs that are accessible to you for external support.
For more information Hermenow Accelerator Program please visit https://www.hermenow.com/program
For collaborations on wellness for social entrepreneurs please email anam@hermenow.com
If you are a HerMeNow participant or alumni, book your free coaching session now through the HerMeNow website https://www.hermenow.com/wellness.
Anam Anjum
Wellness Consultant
+971 52 629 9656
