6 Common Business Mistakes to Avoid

Starting a business isn’t easy and that’s noticeable from the fact that as much as 50 percent of businesses fail within the first year. There are a few common mistakes that business owners make and that can be avoided if you’re aware of them.

Have in mind that avoiding these mistakes doesn’t mean you’ll make it in the business world. There’s always a chance to fail even when you do everything right because you’re not the only person in the market and the competition is harsh.

Not enough funds

The most common mistake businesses made when they are being set up is not having enough funds to deal with their ongoing needs. This is often the case even when a company is able to borrow but isn’t doing so because they can’t anticipate some upcoming expenses.

That’s why you’ll need to have an emergency fund ready when setting up your initial budget. That will allow you to leave at least a portion of your funds just for the case that something happens and you need to make an unexpected expense.

Not appreciating employees

Employees are the most important asset that you have as a business owner. That’s why you need to treat them as such and invest in them as you would in any other asset. This is firstly about providing the employees with the benefits that will keep them satisfied with the company and thus loyal to it.

It’s also important to allow the employees to advance within the company and to break their own career path. For many that’s the key feature of a good job, much more than a salary. Don’t hesitate to teach your employees new skills for fear that they will move on.

Not building a foundation

A company needs to think about its growth and advancement from day one. That’s the only way to be competitive. However, there’s a common mistake tied to this approach to running a business and that’s expanding before you set up a proper foundation of your business.

There are always key features, key products, and key services, that you need to have lined up and that will define your business. These are almost always connected to have key people at the right places. If you don’t have these, you shouldn’t try to expand just yet.

Not thinking about marketing

When your business is small and is just getting started you may end up overlooking marketing efforts and focusing on your own base and word of mouth as a source of new clients. This is a big mistake. Even the smallest of companies these days need to pay attention to advertising and to do it in a professional and organized way.

As soon as you’re able to you should leave this part of the business to the professionals. Their work will be more expensive but it will also mean more of your company and allow you to expand faster and to a wider audience.

Not hiring experts

When a business is small and just getting started it’s fine if it’s core team comes from the founders and those who have had the idea in the first place. However, as soon as the business grows and expands you should consider hiring experts.

This is usually starts with hiring someone to do your tax or at least to prepare you for them. It’s a task that you’ll need a professional for and that will save you a lot of money and trouble with dealing with the government. That’s why most businesses don’t try to save on it.

Not thinking about time

There’s one business resource that’s often overlooked and it shouldn’t be since it’s essentially important. That’s time. A business owner needs to do a lot of things at once and not treating time as a resource and something you can pay to get more will prevent you from accomplishing all you need.

It’s also essential to have a life/work balance and to make sure that other priorities in your life beyond the job itself are taken care of. That’s the only way to for the job to matter and to have meaning.

Conclusion

A lot of businesses fail within their first year and that’s sometimes the fate you’ll need to deal with. However, there are also common mistakes that may lead to this and that can be changed by planning ahead and by thinking about your potential problems early on.

Some of these are about being able to reach out beyond what your initial team used to be. It’s also about knowing what your resources are and that’s often more complex than you might have think it is. Time and labor for instance, are essential investments you shouldn’t overlook from day one.