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UPDATE: Monday, 25-Apr-2005 9:56 PM
POOR MISTAKE #2:
This one is an easy one and one that many Internet
Entrepreneurs made in the late 90's and into
early 2002. Well, fact is they never really
stopped and now I am seeing more such mistakes
surface again.
The mistake that I talk about is the generation of financial projections with out prior sales histories. On several occations I have made such projections to impress Investors when I really didn't have the data or history from another source to back up the projection.
On another occation I used data from just a month or two of sales to make annual projections. The end result was that I was way off and that killed the financial backing that I was seeking.
Whatever business or Internet venture that you start or want to start, make realisting assumptions, realistic sales projections, etc. based on sound principles and sales figures that you have. DO NOT base them on assumptions and hopes, as often many people do.
Interesting a lot of the fuzzy accounting that led to many disasters in 1999, 2000 and 2001 are making there way back. Lately, warning and govenment regulaters sonar are heating up again with several large corporations feeling the heat.
This is evidence that certain wishful thinking and hope is high and flying once again.
However, for you to do the same spells a quick doom to any good ideas that you may incubate.
Don't do it. Stick to a conservative process of discovery, assumptions and projections, and as often as possible use facts at hand to make your predictions.
In the end there will be a lot for you to be happy about. AND if by chance what ever venture fails, then you gave it your best, and used the best judgement. Even in such circumstances it will be much easier for you to jump up and get going again.......
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