What Are the Top Three Mistakes I See Businesses Owners Make?
What are the top 3 mistakes I see business owners make?
1. Not having true confidence and conviction in what they are doing to “Get There”
Owners are excellent at implementation but may develop ambivalence or apprehension about what to do. When that happens they operate in a state of inertia.
This means they
a) don’t take quick and decisive action,
b) straddle between multiple goals and
c) implement tactics half-heartedly. This first saps their money and time and eventually their passion for business. The solution is to have or create a defining point to rekindle confidence and conviction.
2. Not continuously focusing or fortifying their B&H use
They all have BHU is
a) what they and their business are good at doing,
b) what they and their business like doing and
c) what has been valued by the market for what they do.
3. Not recognizing when their personal goals and actions are diverging from goals and objectives of the business
Ask successful owners what they personally want to do and it always includes their business goals. As an owner gets bored or disheartened, their personal goals begin to diverge and consume their business passion. When this happens it is clear that the owner must acknowledge and fill any such gap with either his or her own resources or other resources their disposal.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:00 am
Andy,
You hit the nail right on the head with this one! The first mistake you listed is a bigger problem that is becoming more and more commonplace to well meaning small business owners and entreprenuers.
So many business owners try to do way too many things and lose focus on the fundamentals that got them to the level of success they have reached.
As one of my favorite authors, Chet Holmes, says “The key to true mastery in business is doing 12 things 4,000 times, instead of doing 4,000 things 12 times.”
October 2nd, 2007 at 8:34 am
Andy,
Mistake 2 I believe is the key mistake I see so many smaller businesses make; too many small business folks are afraid of tomorrows (lack) of cash flow so they say yes to things they really aren’t good at, don’t really want to do, etc….
My brother taught me long ago….”KNOW where you make your money” … and … “KNOW who you are”
I repeatedly look at my business revenues and honestly stay focused on what the business tells me, regardless of who is calling me / us, or wants me / us to do something for them. Unless I decide we should branch out and add that service or product, I stay focused on WHERE we make our money. Sometimes thats humbling because I might WANT us to be servicing other markets, etc…but if we don’t have the right horses in the stall, I don’t venture into those arenas.
October 2nd, 2007 at 11:10 pm
Damian makes a good point, too. Business owners not only try to do too many things for too many people, but they bog themselves down with tasks they don’t do well. Business owners needs to recognize where their strengths are and delegate the tasks that can be performed better by others. For example, I see too many business owners who think they have a clear understanding of their personal financial objectives; only to find that the various pieces aren’t fitting together. Their attorney is handling one aspect of their needs; an accountant is handling another and they have a hodge-podge of bank and investment relationships. None of which are working in sync. Business owners need to get their trusted advisors doing the work, collaboratively. When the pieces fit together, a business owner can be assured that his interests are protected, his investment strategy is sound and his wealth is preserved for his/her family’s future and generations to come.
October 3rd, 2007 at 4:47 pm
Business owners are NOT excellent implementers; they are idea people.
October 20th, 2007 at 10:18 am
Damian Petrini’s response was spot on. The trick in life whether it is business or personal is to stay focused on what is important. In the past it was called discipline. It takes discipline to lose a bad habit and it takes discipline to keep calling when in a sales slump. It may be more fun to do 4000 things 12 times but it will be more rewarding in the long run doing the 12 things 4000 times. It sounds like becoming a machine and boring and it is but it is probably healthier than the constant adrenaline rush of trying to do 4000 different things.