This is a guest post by Adnan Ramzan, the founder of themarketingguy.net, a blog on business, entrepreneurship and marketing. He also has a book available on Amazon titled, The Success Story: Discover and Learn How Ultra Successful People Work and Achieve the Results they Want.
Starting up any kind of venture comes with a lot of challenges which must be addressed systematically and skillfully. Failure to do this, will simply imply that the enterprise is likely to collapse. As you try to come up with realistic ideas about the venture, you’re likely to make some obvious mistakes which can easily be avoided. Whether you do them knowingly or unknowingly, in the long run, they’ll have to impact negatively on your business.
The situation is not very different when the business is already running. At times, you’ll be required to make some of the most difficult decisions. Chances of making some erroneous decisions is always high especially if you have to come to a conclusion with a short period of time. And, as a matter of fact, running any kind of business isn’t a walk in the park. It’s a tough process especially if you’re introducing it for the first time. At times, you may be involved in the day-to-day activities that you find yourself deviating from the core goal of the business. The earlier you realize this and correct it, the better for the prosperity of the business.
Below are some horrific mistakes most entrepreneurs do make as they go about the business ventures:
Customers
Customers play a significant role in any business setup. Any activity within the business is always geared towards getting as many customers as possible. Ignoring your customers or failing to fulfill their demands is one of the biggest mistakes any businessperson should risk making. It’s through them that you can know areas which need improvement in the business and even improve on service delivery. Customers must be given the first priority and all their concerns be addressed in a timely manner.
All these can only be possible through better communication systems such as through telephone or email. The customer care representative must uphold professionalism at any given time and respond to their concerns promptly. Most business have ended up losing customers and ultimately being shut down, simply because they treat customers unfairly by providing both substandard goods and services or being arrogant to them. Most customers are keen and they cannot withstand any form of humiliation. Therefore, as a business owner, you must have a better way of dealing with all your customers without any form of discrimination.
Customers are fundamental for any business and it is very important for any business to look after its customers. If it wasn't for customers, your business probably wouldn't even exist. You have to provide value for the customer and make sure the customer does not have buyers remorse.
Provide excellent customer service towards your customers, this way it will show to your customers you actually care. Give your customers something extra as added value. This could be anything such as along with their purchase you send your customer a free ebook, a discount on your next product or access to your video course.
Technology
How long do you take to embrace technology? Is your business technologically updated? Ignore technology at your own risk. Most entrepreneurs who have ignored technological advancement have ended up failing just a couple of days after they’ve started their businesses. It is true that technology come with a lot of challenges, but, no matter the cost, it must be part of your day to day activities in your business.
At the moment, internet has become the most efficient way to reach out to a larger audience. SEO, affiliate and even social media marketing play a significant role.
Setting up a better networking system with customers through cloud computing also plays a significant role in this era of technological advancement. A lot of information pertaining to the business progress or database are all stored in the cloud system for easier accessibility by both parties in the business. This is really convenient.
As much as you may try to embrace technology, there are certain facts which you must put into account. For example, you have to back up your data to avoid chances of losing any vital information. Ignoring technology is such a big mistake for any ambitious entrepreneur.
Planning
Without a business plan, it will be impossible to manage your business. It’s only through it, that you’ll be able to track the performance and initiate new services within the business. This will in return help you to grow your business as far as the exploitation of the available opportunities is concerned.
If your business doesn't have a plan then it will be impossible to commit yourself to a particular cause of action. You can easily manage the cash flow and add value to your business. This is the first document you must have even before you set up the business. A good plan will guarantee your business success.
You should also document where you wish your business to be in the next couple of years. It is good to have a long term plan in place for your businesses vision. Along with long term goals in place, you should also have small to medium term goals as well, as this will help track your businesses progression and you will be able to monitor how well your business is doing.
Competition
A good number of business owners ignore their competitors not knowing that they determine whether their business will remain relevant or not. You must keep your eye on your competitors. Why are they becoming successful? How do they go about their activities? What is so unique about them? These are just some few facts you must establish to remain relevant in the competitive world. Remember, everyday your competitors will come with new ideas which you must embrace and improve on.
If you don’t strategize to compete favourably, it will be difficult for you to market the business, you’ll never be focused on the main objective of the business or even get motivated to get to higher standards. This is a threat to the prosperity of the business. Again, it’s through competition that one will strive to differentiate the products they sell or their business.
You cannot enter the market if you don’t know your competitors and the kind of potential they have in the market niche you’d wish to venture in. This will be an automatic failure.
Security
In the recent past, very many people have been trying to venture into online business. Of course it lets you reach out to a wider market – as matter of fact, the internet forms one of the largest markets in world today. As much as it gives your business more opportunities, it also comes with unimaginable number of risks. This doesn’t mean that only online businesses can have such risks; all forms of businesses can be victims of such circumstances.
Assuming that your business is secure is such a big mistake that as a business owner, you must not make at any given instance. But how can you go about this?
You must be alert at all times by paying attention to the kind of fear your customers have. Hiring an independent and reputable security company is a sure way to ensure that your business remains secure. This is for the simple fact that they’ll always remain responsible for any losses incurred due to compromised security.
As much as your business may have a pool of resources in the cloud system, having limited access to this information is a priority. It must not be undermined at all costs.
In the past many large organizations and companies have had their websites hacked. Some of the companies and websites that have been hacked in the past couple of years include American Express, Google, Yahoo!, Target and Facebook among many others.
Cyber crime is on the rise and it is up to you to keep your website up to date and have good security on your website to avoid having your site hacked into.
Analyzing Business Risk
The prosperity of any business will depend mainly on the kind of decisions business owners make. What are some of the risks and returns associated with the kind of decision you’re just about to make about the business? More often than not, most people ignore the time factor. It’s a very common risk in many business environments. It is important to balance between the risk you take and the returns you get from it.
These are just some of the most common mistakes business owners make in their day to day activities. Others include failure to diversify the business revenue, implement quality and even undefined management structure. Of course you cannot be 100% perfect, but, try to be one by consulting widely before you make any decision which has some kind of impact to your business.
Implementing These Ideas
It's all great reading an article and feeling inspired. However you can't just stop at reading the article. If you just read the article and take no action, there was no point in even reading the article in the first place. You should read the article, make sure you understand it and implement the tips contained into your own business.
You probably will make mistakes as you go along your business journey, but along with mistakes come plenty of lessons to learn from.