Running a business is not as easy as many make it to look. Many challenges confront business owners, especially in a developing economy like Nigeria, in which businesses must surmount or they fail.
From my personal experience of working with different business owners, unfortunately, these business owners have attributed the failure of the business to grow to their staff. While one challenge faced by businesses is a lack of committed and faithful employees, many serious mistakes made by these business owners have directly been responsible for their failures.
In this article, we have narrowed it down to the five most common mistakes committed by a significant number of business owners that affected the growth of their business. We hope knowing them will help you navigate away from making the same mistakes and therefore avoid the inevitable consequence.
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Not seeking timely help
One advantage many big firms have over small firms is that they have some specialist personnel manning the departments. Despite this, they still engage professionals to consult in many functions. Small businesses rarely engage professionals, even in core functions because they have this wrong notion that engaging professionals cost money.
Yes, their services may not come free, but the cost benefits outweigh what they will lose without their service. Consultants are specialists and their job is to solve problems. Taking on various business challenges such as growth, finance, marketing, research, and personnel can daunt and the solution available to them limited. Seeking timely help from consultants could save many struggling businesses from going under, and many are very affordable.
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Lack of proper structure
Another killer of small businesses is a lack of structure. Hopefully, many small businesses would have heard about this before. Having a structure and implementing it diligently is a guaranty that your business is on the right footing. Unfortunately, many businesses that claim to have a structure did not in reality but were only paying lip service while not implementing it. A structure is a simple process where your operations are broken down in such a way that enables your system to run efficiently. In most cases, you need a professional management consultant to set this up, except you are a management guru.
No matter how small your business is, you should be growth-minded from the beginning and separate the business from your person. A good example is to draw a line between the firms’ finances and personal finances. Also ensure you have a well-written business plan which should include your purpose, goals, vision. This document will be your constant guide.
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Lack of strategy
If you have a business plan, it should contain your strategy. However, your strategy document should be constantly updated to reflect changing circumstances. Your strategy document will contain your plans to achieve your long-term goals, your priorities, and the resources you will need. Imagine starting a building without a building plan. Many costly errors are made and the project may be abandoned. The same with a business with a strategic plan. Some strategies are so detailed as to contain plans for many aspects of the business. This includes product/service plan, marketing plan, operation plan, human resource plan, budget plan, etc.
Having a strategic plan will enable your business to be proactive rather than been reactive and increase your operational efficiency.
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Lack of innovation
We set every business up to deliver value to other businesses (B2B) or directly to consumers (B2C). Whichever is yours, many businesses are competing with you and the market space is a jungle. The only guaranty of customer loyalty depends on the value your business is creating, and this value also depends on your ability to innovate. For example, where is Kodak? Where is BlackBerry?
Business owners must structure them to look into the future to predict what the market would look for, focusing on desires and wants, and be able to create or develop such a product. If your business cannot innovate, soon there will no longer be any demand for your product or service. Your ability to innovate will increase your competitiveness, brand recognition, and improved profitability.
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Not investing in your people
A common mistake of many business owners is the thought that they are doing their staff a favor by having them on their team. And so they treat them shabbily, untrained, and not properly rewarded. This usually leads to a very high rate of staff turnover.
A high rate of staff turnover affects significantly the cost of running a business. There is constant recruitment, no continuity, and a stream of inexperienced staff.
Businesses that invest in the training and upskilling of staff have far better output and productivity per staff which results in greater efficiency and value delivery. Remember the old saying that if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. Poor remuneration will only attract unskilled workers, while the good ones will go elsewhere to earn better pay.
Business owners should treat staff as team members who are there to help their team win. If they are well trained, protected, and well remunerated, they will deliver. What you give to them is what they will deliver to you.
Unfortunately, this is a characteristic of toxic bosses.
What to do?
Take an audit of your business and locate where you stand. If you can make the necessary adjustment pronto, all well and good. If you require professional help, you can reach out to us by email: info@staging.handlservices.com.ng