1. Small Business Brown Bag Series 2017

2. 9 Business Pitfalls You Can Avoid Neal Woods & Jim Martin

3. A pitfall is a danger or problem that is hidden or not obvious at first. Noah Webster A pitfall is a trap toward which the unwary are inexorable drawn and from which they seldom return. H. P. Lovecraft

4. Pitfall #1: Having no marketing plan or strategy.
Where will your sales come from?
What will you sell next year?
How large a budget can you afford?
What channels best reach your customers?
What collateral materials do you need?
Understand: Everything You Do Is Marketing!!!

5. Pitfall #2: Not preparing and up-dating a realistic business plan.
Describes your business and its products.
Projects your earnings and cash flow.
Displays your customer/market intelligence.
Shows your growth plans (and needs).
Is essential to gaining any form of financing!

6. Pitfall #3: Not being totally honest with customers.
Customers feel unimportant.
Customers can offer solutions.
Customers may change priorities.
Integrity attracts additional business that deceit drives away!

7. Pitfall #4: Starting without enough capital.
Break-even typically takes two years.
You have overhead costs every month.
You have paychecks to issue every two weeks.
You have to live on something pre-profitability.
Inadequate cost reserves kill many new businesses that might have otherwise thrived!

8. Pitfall #5: Assuming customers will come to you.
You have to make customers want you.
You have to stand out from competitors.
You need a good elevator speech.
Becoming visible and desirable must be your number 1 marketing goal!

9. Pitfall #6: Not dealing firmly with toxic employees.
You need an aggressive interview process.
You must document ALL employee problems.
Review all employees periodically.
Don’t give second chances for serious problems.
Toxic employees contaminate both peers and customers!

10. Pitfall #7: Not understanding finance.
Finance is balancing spending with income.
You must understand cash flow forecasting.
Understanding the timing of cost-of-goods-sold.
To reward employees, you must identify funds.
You can’t delegate every decision to your CPA!

11. Pitfall #8: Trying to do it all yourself (I AM my business).
Delegate all but major decisions to staff.
Off-load skill tasks to experts (e.g., payroll).
Keep your employees informed.
Avoiding micromanaging allows you to focus on planning and management!

12. Pitfall #9: Failure to seek business advice.
No one knows everything.
You need professional help in some areas.
You need advice in areas of inexperience.
It is easier to get advice than to undo a problem once it’s created!

13. The need for advice is the WHY of SCORE and SBDC
The need for advice is the WHY of SCORE and SBDC! We can help you avoid all fifty-two known small business pitfalls.

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