Mistakes Not to Make Or Learning From Others

There are an abundant list of resources sharing examples of mistakes business make. These include Fortune, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Inc. and the list goes on. There is a common thread… here is a list from the their “view from the top”.

Watch the following list. It can be broken into several categories. The most important is new versus existing business. Here size doesn’t matter.

 Undercharging for the product or service provided  Concentrating on one only one piece  Extending credit too easily  Thinking about taxes after the fact

 Don’t have a plan of attack  Don’t know how to hire AND keep good employees  Don’t provide outstanding customer service

 Economically dependent on a small group of customers  Emotions get in the way of sound business decisions  Fail to develop (personally) as a leader or manager

 Trying to get rich quickly  Assuming you have no competition  Being all Business – all of the time  Setting unrealistic financial goals

 Having no rally point  Cutting prices  No clear marketing strategy  Not being forthright

 Trying to do it “all”  Starting with a large loan  Planning on making a profit right away  Spending too much at first

 Hiring employees not needed  Renting space not needed  Not knowing how to collect bills  Not planning for cash flow problems

 Choosing wrong ownership structure  Getting into debt  Not involving the family  Starting for the wrong reasons

 Poor management  Insufficient capital  Location  Overexpansion

And Finally  No website If you weren’t counting that is 35 to learn from others

Warning: “Not Planning” Is Not In The List

My Baker’s Dozen Plus Not in any priority

Not recognizing the rule

Don’t know what they don’t know But think they know

Not being “visible”

Hiring “F”s Friends, Family, or Friends of Friends

Lack of branding

Not knowing the difference between “marketing” & “sales”

Putting marketing and advertising down on the priority list

Underestimating expenses or the opposite

Losing track of The core business

Not knowing the 3 or 4 Key drivers

Looking for people to tell you what you want to hear

Not having a personal experience base

Focus on short term

Lacking a basic management skill But too busy to learn