The 5 Worst Mistakes Small Business Owners Make
You could have an ingenious product or service, enthusiastic investors, and the drive to succeed. But if you make these common mistakes, your business could run low on cash-flow and never succeed. Many of the savviest entrepreneurs have failed just by making these mistakes.
1. Not anticipating market trends
Every market in every industry will experience frequent changes. Your job as business manager is to keep on top of market trends, and make the appropriate, proactive changes to your business model. If you no longer meet your customers’ evolved expectations, or don’t keep up with technological advancements in your industry, your business could suffer and sink.
How to avoid: Subscribe to industry alerts & monitor your competition.
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2. Bad hiring decisions
Hiring the wrong management team and employees can lead to the demise of your business.
How To Avoid: Hire for intelligence, skill-set, and motivation. If you make a hiring mistake, don’t worry, you can always rectify your error. Once you have the right employees, manage them well, keep them happy and they’ll prove their worth.
3. Mismanaging finances
Being a good business manager does not mean you necessarily are a good account-keeper. In fact, most business owners and entrepreneurs excel at their business niche but fail when it comes to their finances. Common problems are overspending, not invoicing on time, and making grave tax errors.
How To Avoid: Don’t be afraid to outsource your finances to an expert and get the financial help you need.
4. Not engaging with customers
Customer engagement does not mean just advertising your products and services to them, it means actively listening to their wants and needs, solving their problems, and even just interacting with them on a personal level. Are you pushing instead of engaging?
How To Avoid: Thanks to social media and online communities, it’s become easier to interact and engage with your customers on a daily basis. Connect with consumers personally, without coming across as intrusive or pushy. This is a delicate balance, but it can be done with much success.
5. Not getting a business loan until it’s too late
A common pitfall is when small business owners fail to realize in time that they’re running low on cash. Cashflow is what keeps a business running and growing, not assets. Studies show 82% of small businesses fail due to cash-flow problems.
How to avoid: Keep monitoring your business liquidity and if it seems like you’ll need extra cash, apply for an unsecured business loan immediately to keep your business going and growing.
Avoid these five common pitfalls and you’ll give your business an even greater shot at succeeding. Mistakes happen to the best of us, so if you find that you’ve already started down one of these roads, fear not – take adequate corrective measures and you can still set your business down the path of success.
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