企业家内部网络是一个在线社区，美国创业界最睿智、最有影响力的一些大咖会在这里及时回答与创业和职业有关的问题。今天的问题是：“年轻创业者的常见错误有哪些？”回答问题的是斑马科技（Zebra Technologies）创始人爱德华•卡普兰。卡普兰也是也是芝加哥布斯商学院艾德华•L•卡普兰“新创挑战”创业竞赛的冠名赞助商。

创业是需要勇气的。我见过许多前仆后继的创业者，他们犯的最常见的一个错误，就是低估了自主创业的难度。决定成为一个创业人，将是你人生中做出的最重大的抉择之一。你需要提前考虑清楚：你具有成为一名成功企业家的勇气、天赋和技能吗？

作为企业家，你必然会面临一些相当困难的挑战。你必须成为一个现实主义者，不要让自负害了你。如果你头脑发热一头扎进商海只是因为自负，那它绝对不是正确的理由。

真正成功的企业家，也就是实现了销售额的增长和盈利的企业所有人，是永远不会忘记以下八个字的：可持续的竞争优势。如果你没有可持续的竞争优势，就不要创业。这八个字又分成三个部分——可持续的、竞争、优势。三者缺一不可。

如果你的项目独具特色，但是很容易被人模仿，那么你的优势只能持续一时，却不具有可持续性。如果你忽略了竞争对手的情况，不去彻底地了解市场上正在发生什么，你也不会具有竞争性。

上世纪80年代，也就是我和商业伙伴创办了斑马科技大约10年以后（那时公司的名字还叫Data Specialties Inc.），条形码技术开始流行了起来。我们派了几队人马去了解关于条形码技术与扫描市场的各种信息。我们访问了各种贸易展会的展台人员，并且问他们：你们的竞争对手是谁？你们的竞争优势是什么？分销渠道是什么？所以说，真正细致地了解你的市场、了解你的竞争对手，是十分重要的。

不要聘用朋友

当年我刚刚创业的时候，我父亲曾告诉我，永远不要雇佣你的朋友替你工作，因为会出现摩擦和挑战。但我并没有听进去。

人在刚开始创业的时候，聘请朋友来给自己工作似乎是个自然而然的选择。因为你认识他们、信任他们，了解他们的道德水平和他们的技能。但是如果继续雇佣他们会导致你的公司遭受损失甚至失败的话，你就只能炒了他们的鱿鱼。

在我创业早期的时候，我曾经聘用过大学里的一个朋友。我们毕业后曾在同一家公司工作过，他和我一样，也是一名工程师。但当时他并不具备我们的这家初创公司所需的技能。于是我跟他坐下谈了谈，解释了为什么我想让他走人，他表示能理解，但他妻子却很不理解。从此她不愿意和我说话了，最后连他本人也对我十分冷淡。

换一位员工尚且非常具有挑战，更不用说换一个好朋友了。

取得家人的支持

拥有家人和朋友的充分支持是极为重要的，而大多数创业者并没有想明白这个简单的道理。作为一名创业者，你的生活方式必然会给家庭造成一定的代价。你不可能像别人一样花那么多时间陪伴家人。你的脾气会变得很急躁，有时还会感到很挫败。创业者必然要承受很多压力，付出很多牺牲。你的伴侣或者其他重要的亲友必须支持你所做的事情，并且真正理解创业是一条坎坷之路。

当我与合作伙伴刚刚创办这家公司时，我还在另一家公司里干着一份全职工程师的工作。每个工作日，我们都要从下午5点半加班到深夜11点，周末更是要全天奋战，很少有留给家人的时间。我拿房子做了一笔抵押贷款，这对我妻子来说是一次很大的牺牲，因为她当时正怀着孕，还得为可能失去我们的房子而焦虑。当时我需要一辆车，好让我全国各地到处跑，拜访潜在客户，于是我哥哥把他的车借给了我。很多个夜晚，我都睡在停在路边的那辆车里。

别让你的牙医入股

如果有人想投资一点钱到你的公司，那么一定要谨慎再谨慎。如果他们并不理解你在做什么，也不明白你的目标是什么，那么他的投资可能将成为一颗定时炸弹。我的合伙人的牙医当时有一笔闲钱想要投资，于是他投资到了我们这家刚成立的小公司。不久之后他想拿回资金，但是我们根本没法还钱给他，因为我们手头上没有现金。那笔钱已经投在公司的原材料和员工工资上了。所以说，初创公司绝对不是流动投资项目。

这个道理听起来很明显，但很多创业人最关心的只是如何筹集到足够的资金来开展业务，但他们忘记了资本的来源一定要牢靠，这样当意外事件发生时，心里才不慌。即便你有了一款革命性的产品，并且充分了解你的市场，但是构建你的业务依然是需要时间的。你前进的道路上总会有几块绊脚时突然冒出来，甚至是很多块绊脚石。所以提前做好充分的准备才是最明智的。

虽然创业会带来很多挑战、风险、痛苦和压力，但它也同样能够带来回报。创业给人提供了一个成长进步的机会。它会提高创业者的生活质量，为他们的生活带来满足感。创业并非只是为了满足一些目标，更是为了体验成功路上的风景。（财富中文网）

译者：朴成奎

The Entrepreneur Insiders network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in America’s startup scene contribute answers to timely questions about entrepreneurship and careers. Today’s answer to the question “What are some common mistakes young entrepreneurs make?” is written by Ed Kaplan, founder of Zebra Technologies and title sponsor of theEdward L. Kaplan ’71 New Venture Challengestartup business launch competition at theUniversity of Chicago Booth School of Business.

It takes courage to become an entrepreneur. The most common mistake I see up-and-coming entrepreneurs make is underestimating how difficult it is to start your own business. Deciding to become an entrepreneur is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make in your life. You need to consider upfront: Do you really have the courage, the aptitude, and the skill to be a successful entrepreneur?

As an entrepreneur, you are going to face some really tough situations. You need to be realistic and not let your ego run away with you. If your ego is driving you to go into business, it’s not the right reason.

The really successful entrepreneurs—business owners who achieve sales growth and profits—never forget these three words: sustainable competitive advantage. If you don’t have a sustainable competitive advantage, don’t start a business. All three words—sustainable, competitive, advantage—are a really big deal.

If you are doing something that is different but easy to copy, you have an advantage for a moment, but it’s not sustainable. If you neglect to pay attention to your rivals and thoroughly understand what is happening in your market, you won’t be competitive.

When bar-coding was starting to become popular in the 1980s, more than a decade after my business partner and I founded Zebra ZBRA -17.77% (originally called Data Specialties Inc.), we sent teams of people to trade shows to find out everything they could about the bar-coding and scanning market. We talked to people in the booths and on the trade show floor. We asked: Who is your competition? What is your competitive advantage? What is your distribution channel? It’s important to really understand your market and to look out for your competition.

Don’t hire your friends

When I first started out, my father told me to never hire a friend because conflicts and challenges would emerge. I didn’t listen.

It’s handy to hire friends when you’re just beginning. You know them. You trust them. You understand their ethics and their skills. But you also have to be willing to fire them if keeping them on the payroll means your company will suffer, or even fail.

In my early days, I hired a friend from college. We worked at the same company after college, and he was an engineer like I was. But he just didn’t have the skills our startup needed at that time. I sat down with him and explained why I had to let him go, and he understood. But his wife didn’t. She wouldn’t talk to me, and, in the end, he was cold to me as well.

Replacing an employee is challenging, but replacing a good friend is harder.

Rally the support of your family

Having plenty of support from your friends and family is extremely important, and most entrepreneurs don’t give that simple fact enough thought. Your way of life as an entrepreneur is going to come at a cost to your family. You won’t be spending as much time with them. You will get irritable. You will get frustrated. There is a lot of stress and sacrifice involved. Your spouse or significant other needs to buy into what you’re doing and really understand it’s going to be a rough road.

I was working a full-time job as an engineer when my business partner and I started the company. We worked every weeknight from 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. and all weekend. There was little time for family. I put up my house as collateral for a loan, and that was a big sacrifice for my wife who was pregnant at the time and anxious about losing our home. When I needed a car to drive across country to call on prospective customers, my brother lent me his. I slept in that car many nights on the road.

Don’t ask your dentist to invest

Be careful who you ask for money to invest in your company. If they don’t understand what you’re doing or what you’re up against, it could backfire. My partner’s dentist was looking to invest some money, so he invested in our startup. Then he wanted the money back. And we couldn’t give it to him because we didn’t have cash. The money was invested in the raw materials and the labor to get us going—startups aren’t liquid investments.

It sounds obvious, but many entrepreneurs are so focused on raising enough funding to get off the ground that they forget to secure a source of capital that they can draw on when something unexpected happens. Even if you have a revolutionary product and you know your market perfectly, it’s going to take time to build your business. There will be unanticipated forks in the road—many of them. And it is wise to be prepared.

While starting and growing a business has its challenges, risks, frustration, and stress, it also has its rewards. When you start a business, you provide an opportunity for people to grow and develop. The quality of their lives will improve. They will develop a sense of satisfaction with their lives. It is not just about achieving goals. It’s about smelling the roses on the road to success.