7 Common Mistakes New Entrepreneurs Make (and How to Avoid Them)

When I first started my business journey, I thought passion and hard work were enough.
What I didn’t realize was that without a clear foundation, I was setting myself up for frustration and burnout.

Did you know most entrepreneurs have to start over at least twice before they really find their stride?
(Trust me, I lived that.)

In fact, I started over twice before finally creating a business that fits my life instead of running it.

I want to share the common mistakes new entrepreneurs make again and again, so you can skip the hard lessons and start building smarter from day one. These are the top mistakes entrepreneurs should avoid if they want to build a sustainable, profitable business from the start.

Mistake #1: Hiding What Makes You Unique

When I started my first business, I thought the safest way to succeed was to be broad and blend in.

I knew I had a gift for candid, storytelling family photography... the kind that captured the real connections between parents and children. But, I was afraid that if I focused too much on what made me different, I'd scare away potential clients.

So my marketing stayed vague: "Family photography in the DC area. All digitals provided."

And it worked... kind of.

I booked a ton of sessions. But they were the wrong clients. I attracted people who wanted digitals and posed portraits with perfect head swaps... not authentic storytelling.

Instead of building a business around what I loved and what I did best, I spent hours editing images I didn't feel connected to. Eventually, I got burned out from it.

Lesson Learned:
👉 Don't hide what makes you different. Lead with it.
👉 Your true niche is where your skills, passions, and values align — and the right people will be drawn to it.
👉 Trying to appeal to everyone only waters down your magic.

When you own what makes you different, you don't have to chase customers. The right ones will find you.

Mistake #2: Not Narrowing Your Niche

Before I started my second business, I spent years leading mobile learning initiatives for the military and first responders. I worked with over 20 government agencies, hosted my own conference, and even won an innovation award for a mobile learning app we created.

When I launched my own government contracting training company in 2015, I already had deep expertise and a strong reputation in mobile learning.

But instead of leaning into that niche I knew and loved, I let fear steer me.

I worried that if I focused too narrowly, I wouldn’t have enough clients. So I said yes to any kind of training, for any agency. Sure we could create that, but we could also have chosen to narrow our niche... one not many other companies were focused on at the time. 

While it kept us busy, it also pulled our small team in too many directions. We could have created templates to make each project quicker and easier to get started, if we had focused on one thing.

We weren't known for anything specific.
I diluted our expertise because of fear of niching down... and with it, our edge.

Lesson Learned:
👉 Narrow your niche even when it feels scary.
👉 Specializing makes you more memorable, more in-demand, and ultimately more profitable.
👉 Trying to do everything for everyone makes it harder to stand out (and harder to stay energized about your work).

The clearer you are about what you do (and what you don’t), the faster the right opportunities find you, and the easier it is to build a business you actually love.

Mistake #3: Starting With the “Fun Stuff” Instead of the Foundation

One of the most common mistakes new entrepreneurs make is jumping straight into the fun, flashy parts of business, without a strategy to follow first. When I started my first two businesses, I picked brand colors, designed a logo, and built a beautiful website... so I did it too. 

It felt like progress.
It looked like progress.

But underneath? I hadn't yet built the foundation of the business.

I didn’t know my niche clearly. I didn't yet deeply understand my ideal customer.
And it showed. No matter how pretty my website was, it wasn't built on strategy.

Eventually, I had to rebuild from the inside out to get it right. I should've started with strategy. 

Lesson Learned:
👉 Build your foundation first: create your niche, choose your ideal customer, and get to know them.
👉 Then design a brand that reflects your foundation. It will feel ten times more clear, powerful, and authentically you.

A beautiful brand can't save a business that doesn't have a clear purpose.

Mistake #4: Only Working In Your Business, Not On It

It felt amazing to work with my first clients.
I got busy fast... delivering the work, meeting deadlines, making money.

But I made a mistake I didn’t even realize until it was too late:
I spent all my time working in the business (serving clients) and almost no time on the business (growing it, building relationships, creating new signature products).

So when client work slowed down, I had no audience to market to, no scalable income stream, and no plan for the future.

I learned the hard way that client work alone wasn't enough to sustain the business (or me).

Lesson Learned:
👉 Make time every week to work on your business, not just in it.
👉 Focus on building visibility, nurturing relationships, and creating scalable offers like digital products.

Serving well today matters.
But building for tomorrow matters even more.

Mistake #5: Getting Stuck in Endless Research Mode

I'll be honest: I love learning.
Courses, podcasts, books... more books. You name it, I devoured it.
I was constantly in "just one more thing" mode, thinking the next guide would finally give me the secret to success... the clarity I craved.

But after months (and months) of learning and researching...
I still wasn’t moving forward.
I hadn’t put anything out into the world. I hadn’t tested any ideas. I was just collecting information like it was my job.

It took me longer than I’d like to admit to realize: Clarity doesn’t come from studying. It comes from doing.

Lesson Learned:
👉 Set a time limit on your research.
👉 Make a decision.
👉 Take messy, imperfect action.

You don’t find the perfect path by thinking harder or learning more.
You find it by walking forward, one step at a time.

Mistake #6: Marketing Without a Strategy

As a new entrepreneur, I posted whatever came to mind online: random tips, motivational quotes, whatever I thought might get attention.

And it worked, a little.
Until it didn’t.

Because without a clear strategy, I didn’t have a real customer journey.
I wasn’t leading people anywhere.
I was just tossing ideas into the void and hoping something would stick.

It was exhausting, and it didn’t build real momentum.

Lesson Learned:
👉 Your marketing needs a job: to move your audience step-by-step closer to their goals.
👉 Start with their needs, build a journey for them to follow, and create content that bridges the gap from where they are to where they want to be.

Random posts don’t build trust.
Thoughtful journeys do.

Mistake #7: Letting Fear, Limiting Beliefs, and Self-Doubt Run the Show

This is the hardest one to talk about because it’s the one I still have to on daily.

For years, fear whispered in my ear:
"Are you sure you're ready for this?"
"What makes you think you can do this?"
"Someone else is already doing that!"

It delayed me for a long time.
It kept me quiet when I should have spoken up.
It made me second-guess things that could have helped people sooner.

The truth is, most of the time, what holds us back isn’t skill or lack of time... it’s fear.

Lesson Learned:
👉 Name the fear. It may not go away, but at least you're acknowledging that the negative self talk is just fear and it has no power.
👉 Call out the limiting belief. You may still feel it, but you can prove it wrong by taking that next step.
👉 Move forward anyway. even if your hands are still shaking. It gets easier. 

Confidence isn’t something you find.
It’s something you build, by taking one brave step after another.

Final Thoughts: Build Smarter, Not Harder

By recognizing these top mistakes new entrepreneurs should avoid, you’ll set yourself up to build smarter, not harder.

You don’t need to fail fast to succeed.
You just need to start with a strong foundation.

✅ Define your niche and audience clearly.
✅ Focus your energy on the people you love to serve.
✅ Build a business that fits your life, not the other way around.

You’ve got everything you need to build something amazing. I’m cheering for you every step of the way.

Want to learn more? Here are some other helpful posts that you may be interested in:

• 3 Steps to Start an Online Business That Actually Supports Your Life

•  What is a Digital Product?

• Recurring Income vs. One-Time Sales: How Digital Products Actually Make Money