No one is born with all
the skills of a successful entrepreneur. They have to be learned. But many business people
make the mistake of learning only “on the job”, in the school of hard knocks,
and many don’t survive. A better way to learn is
from the experience of others, ahead of time, to avoid the mistakes they made and to
duplicate their success.
The following is a listing of the most common mistakes that business people make even
if they have been in business for many years:
1. Running out of cash.
In the euphoria of running a business, it’s easy to overlook the gap between
making sales and banking the money. Often the wait is too long, owner draws exceed the
profits the company is making and the business runs out of cash to pay bills and meet debt
service. A
cash
flow budget worksheet helps you predict highs and lows in time to take corrective action fast.
2. Not knowing your customers.
Changes in customer preferences and your competitors’ products can leave you in
the dust, unless you get to know who your audience really is, what they want now, and
likely want next.
3. Doing it all your own way.
You might be the key to everything but you cannot DO everything. Even modest
successes can overwhelm you unless you hire staff and delegate responsibility.
4. Ignoring employees.
Motivating and managing employees is one of your greatest challenges. More employees
mean more “people problems”. Left unresolved they can destroy morale,
productivity and profits.
5. No Business Plan.
If you rely on instinct to guide your business instead of a written plan you are headed
for trouble. A plan helps you focus on where your company is going and why, and how
you’re doing along the way.
6. Ignoring the numbers.
As an owner/manager, your primary goal is to make a profit. You need to know where you
stand on a regular basis, with a timely system of recording and analyzing key data.
