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Business Mistakes to Avoid
Business Mistakes to Avoid
By Sharon Housley
Small businesses and entrepreneurs often
repeat the same mistakes. If you are an entrepreneur,
the following is a list of critical mistakes to avoid
in your new venture:
1. Promising The World
Entrepreneurs will commonly make bold
promises that are often impossible to actually deliver.It is important that you stay grounded in reality, and
only agree to things that you know you can actually
deliver.
2. Lack Of Discipline
Owning a business takes commitment and
self-discipline. Since you are the boss you probably
won't be disciplined for things like not showing up
for work on time... but such things will have a negative
impact on your business.It is important that entrepreneurs
treat their business just like a real business, and
not like a personal hobby.Act professional, charge for
your services, and be accountable for the product or
service provided.Self-discipline is critical to being
self-employed.
3. Lack Of Focus
Remain focused on your core business
philosophy, and don't attempt to be everything to everyone.Decide
what your strengths and business focus are, and use
that strength and focus to build the foundation for
your core business.
4. Doing It All
While most small business owners are jacks-of-all-trades,
it is important to know your limits.Do not try to
do it all.In many situations, it is much better to
hire someone or outsource a project than attempt to
reinvent the wheel or do something yourself that you
are simply not qualified to do.
5. Undervaluing Product Or Service
Small businesses often make the mistake
of undervaluing their product or service.If an item
or service is priced too inexpensively, it may be viewed
to be of inferior quality. Conduct a cost analysis,
and consider split-testing to find the appropriate price
point for your product or service.
6. Hiring Family
It is natural for a small business owner
to want to hire family members, but this is often a
very costly mistake.If you do hire family members,
be sure to make it clear from the beginning that business
is business.Employment should not effect your personal
relationships -- that is very easy to say, but unfortunately
it often does effect your personal and family relationships.Additionally, other employees may resent favoritism
paid to a family member who is given priority.And
sadly, favoritism of a family member can often be perceived
by other employees, even when it doesn't actually exist.Think long and hard before venturing down this path.
7. Copying The Competition
Copyingthe competition is certainly
far easier to do than creating something new.However,
that does not mean that it is a good thing to do.
8. Tracking Advertising
It is important to track and measure
the success or failure of any advertising campaigns.
If you do not track your advertising, you will not really
know what works and what does not, and you could be
throwing good money after bad.
9. Not Having A Plan
It is important that you have goals, and
a plan for your business. Use the plan to guide the
direction of your business.
10. Failure To Invest
You have to spend money in order to make
money. Many entrepreneurs fail to invest in their business,
yet expect instant success. Building a business takes
time, effort, and both a personal and a financial investment.
11. Inability To Adapt
Many small businesses change over the
years. You must be willing to adapt to the changing
needs of a business, and to the changingneeds of your
customers, in order to survive in the the business world.
Launching a business is an exciting and
rewarding experience. Just be careful to avoid the above
pitfalls on your way to success.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com
software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds
and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for
RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com
audio recording and editing software.
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copy of the issue or a link to any online posting would
be greatly appreciated send an email to sharon@notepage.net
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Additional articles available for publication available
at http://www.small-business-software.net/free-website-content.htm
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