What are the biggest mistakes that most new business owners make? While I obviously cannot tell you about ALL mistakes made in all businesses, I can (hopefully) tell you something about the legal mistakes that some of those business owners make. Starting a business is a huge step for anyone, and of course mistakes are inevitable. But learning from the mistakes and missteps of others (as well as their successes and victories) can give a new entrepreneur a “playbook” (or at least the beginnings of a “playbook”) toward how to grow his or her new business venture, maximizing profit while limiting potential liability. It seems that nearly every media outlet has their own list of the biggest business mistakes. Take, for example, this list made by Inc., which lists:.
    1. Drinking your own kool-aid.
    2. Getting into the entrepreneurial world for the wrong reasons.
    3. Not keeping an eye on the bank balance.
    4. Forgetting to lock down your intellectual property.
    5. Micromanaging for too long.
    6. Poor hiring decisions.
    7. Not focusing on sales enough.
    8. Failing to realize the importance of cash flow, not just profit.
    9. No customer engagement.
    10. Trusting your reports who tell you everything is fine.
    11. Building too much.
Or this list from Entrepreneur, which has 9 similar reasons:
    1. Not spending enough money or spending too much money.
    2. Thinking you have no direct competitors.
    3. Making hiring decisions based on cost.
    4. Not setting attainable goals.
    5. Not thinking about marketing.
    6. Having too small margins.
    7. Thinking you can do it all yourself.
    8. Being incapacitated by fear of “what if’s.”
    9. Putting your product first and people last.
While all of these items are great tips for new businesses and entrepreneurs, I created a video on my YouTube channel to focus on the legal aspects of starting a new business. In this video from my YouTube Channel, I discuss five of the biggest legal mistakes that are made by entrepreneurs and new business owners. If you have any feedback on this video, I always appreciate getting an email or reading your thoughts in the comment section. I hope you will enjoy this video!