How to avoid business pitfalls

Dear Professor Bruce:

I am really serious about starting my own business but I am nervous about making some big mistakes early on and paying dearly for them.

What advice can you give on some of the biggest pitfalls I should avoid?

Answer: Sometimes the road not taken is as important in achieving your goals as making the right choices on the path to success. When we (co-authors Karin Abarbanel and Bruce Freeman) talked to seasoned entrepreneurs for our new book, "Birthing the Elephant," they were eager to share their advice about both the mistakes they had made as well as the ones they've avoided. Since knowing what not to do can push you up the start-up curve faster, I'd like to share what we learned about three big pitfalls that the women we interviewed pinpointed. Avoiding even one of them during your launch will save you time, money, and stress - and definitely increase your chances of success. So read on and bypass these business busters:

Pitfall 1: Romanticizing being your own boss - As you launch your venture, it's tempting to fantasize about how liberating it will be to be your own boss. If you've been a corporate employee for much of your career, then the idea of having the freedom to call all the shots can seem especially appealing. But it's very important to have a clear-eyed view of the time, energy, and commitment that working for yourself will take. If your vision of being an entrepreneur is drastically out of sync with the actual day-to-day demands of your start-up, you can quickly lose your drive and enthusiasm.

Pitfall 2: Overspending due to image anxiety - Of all the traps you can fall into during your start-up, being overly self conscious about your image is probably the biggest. It can lead you to overspend, over promise, and overextend yourself. You become vulnerable to this trap when you confuse image with professionalism. Doing this can be extremely costly, not only in dollars, and overhead, but in the anxiety and stress it creates.

Pitfall 3: Under pricing your products or services - Women actually have a higher success rate at running businesses because they are very service oriented. At the same time, research shows that women tend to undervalue their time, talent, and expertise when it comes to pricing. Fall into this trap and you can find it hard to dig your way out. Pricing properly so you can operate profitably is critical to launch success. So talk to industry experts or SCORE advisors, compare pricing strategies with other business owners, test price points, find a mentor - do whatever it takes to get it right.

For further information, please visit www.birthingtheelephant.com.

Bruce Freeman is president of ProLine Communications, a marketing and public relations firm in Livingston, NJ and co-author of "Birthing the Elephant" (Ten Speed Press). E-mail questions to Bruce(at)SmallBusinessProf.com.