Starting a business at a Young age is exciting, but also extremely challenging. Entrepreneurs are more popular than ever, and as a result, many young and eager professionals skip the corporate world and dive headfirst into entrepreneurship — many doing so before they are ready.

This flood of Young Entrepreneurs can lead to a lot of poor decision making. Their lack of experience, mixed with blind eagerness, is a recipe for inefficiency and costly mistakes. While making a few mistakes along the way is inevitable, but there are still a dozen mistakes that young entrepreneurs keep making that can be avoided.

Below are the top 7 unlucky mistakes young entrepreneurs seem make when starting a new business:

1. Being too impatient.

Stories of “overnight success” make wannabe entrepreneurs think that their new venture will be a success immediately. What these young start-up creators don’t see are the years of hard work that go behind a big launch — which is usually successful only due to years of smart planning. Just because these steps aren’t publicized doesn’t mean they are not happening behind the scenes.

Young entrepreneurs need to acknowledge that their project is a long-term investment. Being too impatient will ultimately lead to failure, as many young entrepreneurs have learned. In fact, according to Startup Genome, 70% of startups scale up before they are truly ready and don’t make it in the long term. The reality is that there are no shortcuts to accelerate past years of persistence, and young entrepreneurs need to learn to play the long game if they are to be successful.

2. Trying to do everything by yourself.

Many young founders might think that because they are the vision behind their company, they must do everything themselves. What many fail to realize is that starting a company is not a single-player effort. It requires a team of those you trust and that believe in the vision of the company to help you grow.

Working with a team also means learning how to be an effective leader, which is an underdeveloped skill in many naive entrepreneurs. They simply lack the years of experience or confidence to successfully lead a team. They also tend to be micromanagers, who are used to projects being done a certain way. This can ruin a team’s chemistry and collaboration. Founders need a balance between paying attention to the big ideas while being able to lead teams of others to carry out the smaller, everyday tasks.

3. Not staying focused enough.

First-time entrepreneurs often become distracted by flashy ideas that can be incredibly distracting. Younger generations are more enamoured with trying new tools or gadgets that might be unnecessary or a waste of time and resources. A founder needs to be able to filter out what’s not useful to a company’s growth. Chasing too many ideas will create unnecessary noise and chaos.

For example, Matt Carpenter from College Funding Services says his biggest mistake was, “trying to do too many things at once. Figure what skill set you have that is unique, then focus on that and outsource the rest,” he says. Sticking to one decision can be challenging, but without a clear objective, young entrepreneurs can drift away from their initial vision.

4. Not understanding your business plan.

While a formal business plan is not completely essential, a successful start up does need to spend time thinking of the nuts and bolts of their business model. There should be a road map in place that outlines key metrics and projections for all involved to see. Young entrepreneurs skipping this step might see more complications down the road. Taking advantage of a self service knowledge base or free knowledge base software can be a good start to documenting company plans that you can share internally with those invested in your business goals.

“I wasted 10 years thinking like an artist and not a business person,” says Louis Piscione, president of Avanti Media Group, to the Wall Street Journal. “I learned that you have to put some of your creative genius toward a business plan that forecasts and sets goals for growth and success.”

5. Not understanding your market.

Understanding your market means more than doing market research; it means learning from those who have been working and selling in that industry for years. Frankly, young entrepreneurs don’t have the work experience and knowledge that seasoned sellers might. Actually knowing the nuances of your market takes time. Younger entrepreneurs can benefit from having a mentor or by spending years working for another company first before launching their product into a market dominated by pros. Make sure your market will be receptive to you, even if your company remains a small player.

6. Hiring the wrong people.

Hiring is a unique talent that many young founders might not be ready for. It requires being able to read a variety of people and personalities and understanding which of those work well together in the workplace. More seasoned owners know that sometimes it’s more about chemistry than skills, and while an employee looks good on paper, he or she might clash terribly and stall growth.

Additionally, a younger entrepreneur might be more prone to bring on a school friend or close buddy to start up a new project. While the familiarity and support system is a nice feature, it is a bad business strategy. When business relationships begin to get personal, criticism can be misconstrued and there can be a nasty falling out. Avoid this taboo by hiring professionals who are qualified and eager to grow your business and that share your same vision.

7. Fundraising too much money.

As a first time founder, saying yes to any investment that comes your way is certainly enticing. Raising capital might always feel like the right move, because you can always use the money, right? In reality, raising too much money, or money at the wrong time, can do serious damage to your company’s long-term value ceiling.

Over-funded companies can get big and bloated, and giving away too much equity early on will mean too many other parties will have a say in your business. Young entrepreneurs need to learn when to turn down a deal when it gives up too much, even if the price tag is good.

Despite all of the lessons and warnings, mistakes are inevitable. Hopefully the mistakes listed here can be avoided by being a careful, savvy first-time founder. Young entrepreneurs should listen to the advice of experts and put in the hard work it takes to truly make their ambitious idea become a stable success.

Author Bio:- Robin is a Technical Support Executive. He is an expert in knowledge management and various Knowledge base tools. Currently, he is a resident knowledge management expert at ProProfs. In his free time, Robin enjoys cycling and sky diving.

7 Unlucky Mistakes Young Entrepreneurs Make in a New Business was originally published in ProofHub Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.