Avoiding The Mistakes of Startups

The Wall Street Journal's entrepreneurial publication Startup Journal recently published an article "Starting a Business? Don't Do This."

Start with this statistic:

• Just 44% of small businesses with one or more employees -- in addition to the founder -- survive after four years, according to the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy.

The six mistakes to avoid are:

1. Lacking a detailed plan
2. Failing to talk to experts
3. Assuming control over prices
4. Not connecting with the customer
5. Failing to seek advisers
6. Not reacting to market changes

BOTTOMLINE: A detailed plan, and a systematic way to align daily activities toward meeting that plan and a way to measure progress are essential. Seeking the input of a trusted expert advisor, or what we refer to at Six Disciplines as an "accountability coach" also goes along way to ensuring that you stay on the plan, and spend the time "to do the right things."