6 Common Mistakes That Business Owners Run Into

So many businesses are faced with a number of challenges, some get through them while some others are setback and possibly come crashing down because of these mistakes. Sometimes these mistakes are overlooked, believing that it is not an issue until it grows to become a major challenge. Some of them are discussed below;

A narcissistic boss.

In some organization, you find bosses who you might say are self-centered. They are often self-opinionated; believing that they know what they are doing and need no guidance. Bosses like this, are often rigid and not so friendly with their employees. Ideally being a boss automatically puts you in a position of leadership, and leadership comes with a lot of qualities: Motivator, empathic, friendly etc. As a boss, you look to understand the need of people around your workplace and keep them motivated, but these self-centered bosses are not necessarily bothered with how their employees feel and whether or not the working environment is fairly conducive. Such attitude definitely affects the overall performance and output of an organization, and this is one mistake business owners fail to realise, especially as some can be so egocentric. Bosses need to realise that for the organization to grow, people have to work together and their needs have to be equally satisfied.

As if that isn’t enough, some business owners end up channeling the organizational resources into more personal things. They feel that since the business is making profit then it is okay to make themselves rich and look rich. Taking advice to keep reinvesting is not really a thing for them. In the end the business does not grow as intended, demands are not fully met because of shortage in available resources, minimizing becomes a routine and therefore leading to a significant drop in quality of the overall product or services. The attitude of “it is my business, so I do as I please” is not the right attitude to start and grow a business. You are in no competition with anyone in your organization, you are the boss, your only competition are those in the same marketing environment as you are. Avoid unnecessary spending of your organizational resources, they are there to keep the business growing not for you alone.

Having no clear direction.

You want to start an online store, yet you have no idea about what kind of store you will like it to be. You are unsure whether you will want your business to be online or offline or both. People have prospects and dreams that they want to actualize. Having a clear path about what you desire is a start on where to go. Draw a plan, have a vision and believe in it. Believing in this vision is important to keep you heading towards that direction. Having a vision that you do not believe in, soon you will find yourself demotivated and probably out of line with that vision. You have a web shop and you wish to have a close relationship with at least one hundred of your top clients. Then you keep to that plan and work towards it. There is a saying that goes thus’ “if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.” It is as simple as that. No business can grow without a plan. And each time a plan is attained, new ones have to be developed to keep the business growing and more effective.

Channeling resources in the wrong places.

This is where a misguided plan sets in. A lot of time and other resources are put into a project that will not end up being as beneficial as expected. You put in so much hard work in the wrong direction which can be such a waste and loss. People say that it is never really by how hard you work, but by how smart you work. It is never about the time spent, but the how much focus is put in doing those important or vital things, that will yield the most of the result. Understanding what is key to your business and properly channeling your resources into it, is how you get your business growing.

Forgetting to measure and keep track of progress.

If it cannot be measured, then it does not exist. That is a renowned saying. How do you know your business is growing in the direction you want? You have a mobile commerce; how do you keep track of its activities? Keeping track of your daily activities, monitoring output, getting insights from customers, all of these help in growing a business. Also, if your business is online and you need to collect data and measure progress, there are analytic tools available for this purpose. Keeping proper track of your business is the only way to keep your business growing.

Underestimating you competitors

Many business owners often times underestimate their competitors. Just because you feel you have acquired a larger share of the market does not mean that share will permanently be yours. Just as much as you struggled as a business to dominate the market, likewise, your competitors are doing the same or probably more, to acquire that share and even more.  Business owners should not get too complacent, so as not to lose what they had worked so hard to achieve. It is very likely to cost much more to get back that market share you lost to competitors than to maintain and increase it.