Many students dream of starting and running their own businesses. A quarter of U.K. students plan to start a company while still in college. And while starting a business at a young age can be thrilling, it comes with its own share of challenges. Lack of experience is one of the major hindrances to success. 

You’re bound to make mistakes, some so severe that you’ll contemplate quitting. But you won’t be the first person to make those mistakes--or the last. Others faced the same challenges and learned from their mistakes. Here are the top mistakes students entrepreneurs make--and how you can avoid them.

1. Doing Everything on Their Own

Student entrepreneurs think they know everything about their products or services because they birthed the ideas. So they do everything on their own. Besides setting yourself up for burnout, this also impedes your growth. Instead of juggling all tasks by yourself, hire a great team. Share your vision with them and create a good work environment that allows everyone to work towards the same goals. It’s much easier to achieve your business goals if you’re surrounded by talented people and experts in various fields.

2. Not Marketing Enough

Many student entrepreneurs think that just because they have a great product,  they will make lots of sales. That’s not always the case. You can have the best product on the market and still not be able to sell it--because people don’t know about it. Invest heavily in marketing and make it easy for potential customers to find your business--online and offline. 

Marketing allows you to effectively reach your target audience and scale up your business. It helps promote your new and existing products and grows your customer base. A good marketing budget allows you to pay for different advertising channels. If you don’t want to borrow a lot of money, apply for a small business loan or try alternative financing like title loans. Search for ”car title loan places near me” and use your car as collateral for the loan. A short-term loan is better because it has lower total interest payments.

3. Not Sharing Their Idea 

Many young entrepreneurs tend to keep their business ideas a secret because of copycats or for fear of rejection. The reality is, not everyone can see the bigger picture like you do. Your paranoia will only prevent you from accessing opportunities that can make your dream a reality. 

Come to think of it, you can’t pitch your idea to investors with confidence or even create social media pages if you fear criticism or think someone is going to copy your idea. Share it with the right people--like lecturers and other student entrepreneurs. You can only know the value of your idea by getting feedback from other people.

4. Using Age as an Excuse

No one is too young to launch a business or develop an innovation that can shape the future. The earlier you realize this, the more time and energy you’ll dedicate to building something great. Hart Main created manly-scented candles when he was only 13. The ManCan Company now sells these candles across the U.S., making more than six figures in sales every year. Never blame your failure to close a deal or to create a winning pitch on your age.