Sometimes to be successful means to avoid doing the things that will destroy your success. It’s easy to go down the wrong path and it’s important to be aware of this.
Step #1: Saddling Your Business with Debt
Conventional wisdom states that there is smart debt vs. dumb debt or a similar description of two kinds of debt. Although there is some truth to this, the bottom line is that large amounts of debt will cause a huge handicap to your business, especially a start-up. Even if you are doing well it will not feel like it when you have massive debt payments each month or sometimes on a daily or weekly basis if you took out a predatory lender loan. When you have easy access to large amounts of debt it numbs your sense of being financially cautious, prudence, and allows you to spend your money on things that can easily be justified but are not necessary.
Step #2: Poor People Management
See what happens if you constantly treat your employees, vendors, and customers disrespectfully. The end result will be high turnover, sabotage, lack of a sense of shared purpose, losing customers, and everything else negative. It is amazing to see how little attention is paid to the management of people in a poor performing business.
Step #3: Over Working Yourself
There are times when you need to work more or work more rigorously, but if done for too long, then your productivity will decline, decision making becomes worse, and you may find yourself in the hospital for stress induced health reasons.
Step #4: Not Listening to the Right Advisors
Unemployed Uncle Jimmy with a string of failed businesses will not provide you with the advice you need, and if he does provide you with advice, then do the opposite. Or, which is also very commonplace, is to seek the advice of the wrong professional. Make sure the professional that you confide in is an expert with the advice you are looking for.
Step #5: Personal Issues
This is somewhat related to step #2, but more on a personal level. If you are going through difficult times on a personal level, then this will ultimately translate into poor business performance. A common example is taking care of a sick family member that needs you. If you need to focus more fully on your family situation, then delay starting a business, or for an existing business try to delegate more of your business responsibilities to trusted employees.
Step #6: Ignore Marketing and Sales
Many years ago, I met with a brand new business owner to discuss his business and try to help him out. During our discussion, I asked what he was doing for marketing, and he said that he did very little because he didn’t want to spend money on marketing because marketing costs money. I’m not sure of my exact reply, but he was no longer in business within a few months’ time.
Summing it Up
Some of these steps may seem obvious, but they are common due to the fact that it is hard to take a step back, access a situation, swallow your pride, and say to yourself, “Hey, I need some help because I am not always right.” We should probably all say that more often.
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