Entrepreneurs Make 2 Common Mistakes

After helping more than 131,000 business owners, a study has revealed that sustainable growth usually comes down to avoiding two surprisingly common mistakes.

Underestimating Marketing Needs

Many entrepreneurs view marketing primarily as an expense to control, but it's the engine that brings customers into the business. Marketing is not just about spending recklessly, but about knowing the numbers and which campaigns consistently generate profitable business.

According to the study, entrepreneurs who underestimate the importance of marketing often struggle to grow their business. In fact, cutting marketing simply because it looks expensive can be one of the riskiest things a business owner can do.

One entrepreneur who learned this lesson the hard way is the founder of PostcardMania, who nearly lost his company during the 2008-09 housing crash. He refused to lay off employees and instead restored his marketing budget, which helped the business recover.

Getting Caught Up in Hacks and Trends

Entrepreneurs often get too caught up in the latest marketing hacks and trends, but this can be a recipe for disaster. Businesses aren't built through a collection of hacks, but by finding things that work and getting exceptionally good at repeating them.

A good example of this is Chili's, which experimented with robot servers but ultimately pivoted to a more fundamental approach. The restaurant chain invested in stronger Wi-Fi, updated payment systems, and ordering technology for restaurant staff, which helped it achieve 20 consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth.

Similarly, PostcardMania has taken a similar approach, layering newer tools around what was already proven to work. The company analyzed 117,857 leads in 2025 and discovered that it made $416.04 per direct mail lead and only $38.59 per digital lead, a 978% difference.

So what can entrepreneurs learn from these mistakes? The key is to track your marketing, invest in what produces profitable customers, and keep improving it. Test new ideas without abandoning proven ones, and remember that growth requires feeding what works.