5 BIG BUSINESS MISTAKES
There are five common mistakes I see small businesses making that can cause growth and engagement to slow down. Business is hard enough without working against yourself, right?
Which of these areas do you need to focus on and avoid in the future?
ONE - Not reflecting often enough
The good, the bad and the ugly - you need to learn from it all in business. One mistake I see a lot of business owners make is they don’t spend enough time reflecting on things. It may feel like time you don’t have, but it’s a crucial step in running a business.
Make sure you are creating time in your calendar to review and reset, then use what you learn to guide your strategy and work towards your goals.
TWO - Emotion and ego-driven decisions
Yes, it happens to the best of us. We make a decision driven by our emotions or ego. Sometimes it’s hard not to - like really hard.
Before you respond to a situation, take a breath and ask yourself if you would tell someone else to respond or act in the way you’re about to if it was their business. If not - stop and think before you do anything.
THREE - Selling product over benefit
People don’t want to buy your product, they want to buy what that product means to them. Does it give them more time? Does it solve a problem for them? Does it give them joy or energy? Does it make them feel part of something?
Sell them the benefit and stop pushing your product on people - they’ll buy when they connect to what that is for them.
FOUR - Not evaluating priorities
Flying blind and working on whatever hits your desk is a recipe for disaster. Or worse .. allowing yourself to do the things you like and avoiding the things you don’t. (Queen of Procrastination right here, I get it!)
You need to understand and evaluate the priority actions in your business right now (not what they used to be or you guess they are).
List them, map them out and allocate them a priority ranking. Work accordingly.
FIVE - Having no accountability
Remember that sound on Instagram a while back where it goes "Nobody's gonna know. How would they know?". Oh they’ll know!
There are two kinds of accountability business owners need to run an efficient and successful business - internal and external.
Internal - Managing yourself with the right planner, tools, and checklists allows you to keep track of how and when you are getting things done. Stop flying blind and lay it all out in front of you. Do it in a way that works for you, not necessarily what works for everyone else.
External - Having a trusted accountability buddy works wonders for keeping yourself on track. Have regular check in’s where you go through your current “to do list” with them and talk them through what you’ve done since you last met, what you haven’t (and why) and what’s next. Then do the same for them. Meeting regularly and verbalising your progress to someone is a gamechanger. GO FORTH AND FIND YOUR BUDDY!
Whether it’s letting your emotions take over, not managing your time properly or just pure overwhelm - these mistakes are easy to make and hard to identify in your own business. Getting on top of them and setting yourself up with the right checks and balances will make a HUGE difference.
Good luck!
K