Gyaan Sutra On entrepreneurship and technology

Here is an old article from Steve Pavlina about a few stupid mistakes that most new self employed people make. The list is long and wide, and I would agree with all of them but there are a few which deserve special mention.

5. Assuming a signed contract would be honored

What’s behind a signed contract is a relationship. If the relationship goes sour, the contract won’t save you.

Business comes from relationships and nothing else. The stronger your relationship with each of your clients, the more business you will get. There is no way in hell you would be able to chase anybody down if they fail to do what was written in the contract.

7. Being too formal.

I think it’s a mistake to be too formal even when looking to establish new business relationships. If someone mails me a letter that starts with “Dear Mr. Pavlina” and then goes on to explain a long-winded business proposal, I’ll usually just trash it, especially if it uses the word “we” a lot.

Business is amongst people not organizations. People talk, and not in the voice of corporations, but in the human voice. It might sound comforting to hide behind the sound of a corporation when you talk to potential clients, but in the end it would do you more harm than good. This is because relationships develop because of your personalities, and the moment you start hiding them, you’re on your way down.

9. Failing to focus on value creation.

Why does your business exist? It exists to provide some sort of value, both for you and your customers.

This seemingly simple idea holds more knowledge than most business books. Value is all that matters, both for you and your clients. If you give them value, but don’t get yours, business will go down. If you get value, but clients don’t, again your business goes down. It has to be win-win situation. There are no two ways about it.

Steve Pavlina

If you liked this post, you can subscribe to Gyaan Sutra via feeds or email.