According to statistics, a majority of business startups fail. In fact, half of them fail after 5 years, and at least 70% after 10. If those figures don’t discourage you from opening a business, you must have an incredible determination to succeed. That’s impressive, but determination alone can’t ensure your success. You need to have the ability to determine the situations that may make you fail and prepare yourself accordingly.

Fortunately, in business, you don’t need to be a fortune teller to look into the future. One of the things you need is patience to learn about how other businesses fail so you don’t make the same mistakes. Here are several of the most common mistakes that you should avoid in order to increase your chances of success.

Seeing too much potential

When you come up with a business idea, it’s highly likely that you see boatloads of potential. You’re so excited that you fail to perform a thorough study on how the market will accept your product or idea. Without a proper feasibility study, the potential you’re seeing now might just be a mirage.

Failing to plan your finances

It’s great if you have enough funds to support your business for one or two years. However, what comes after that? Will you be willing to fold if your business doesn’t pan out once your bank accounts are empty? Some businesses take more than a couple of years to turn a profit.

Failing to include your family life in your plans

You probably already know that starting up a business will consume a lot of your time. In fact, a new business can easily take over a lot of your family life as well if you are not prepared, so you need to be careful and plan how you’ll be managing your time.

Do you have the mindset to be an Entrepreneur?

Are you cut out to be an entrepreneur? Though it’s true that entrepreneurs aren’t born that way, successful business people do share common traits such as self-motivation and persistence. Do you have what it takes to succeed? If you are unsure, then you might want to consider additional training or to test your business skills on a smaller scale rather then going all-in.

Success in business is not like winning the lottery. You need to be fully prepared to tackle all the problems and challenges that will come your way. Make sure you develop all the necessary business skills to help ensure success.

A business coach can help you to do this or to take your business to the next level if you are already running a startup.