While starting a new business can be a challenge, it can also be a foundation of a great life for the Entrepreneur and his team. I interact with thousands of small business owners both in social and coaching environments. I come across many issues from which they are suffering today and realize with remorse that if they had been guided earlier in their career – these entrepreneurs would be running much more successful growing businesses today. Here I am sharing a few pointers learned from decades of running a diagnostic business myself, as well as experience as a business coach.
Mistake No. 1
One Man Show: Remember that there can never be “One-Man” who can run an ever-growing Business. A person can effectively work not more than 10 hours in a day – and if you are a one-man-show – your business will not grow beyond those 10 hours of working, and will stall after a point. You will then become one of the thousands of mediocre non-growing shops you see in the market. Some of them are even more than twenty years old and yet stuck in old times. They will never grow further because their owner cannot work beyond a certain number of hours. And there are only 24 hours in a day.
Mistake No. 2
Thinking that “Only I can Do Best” – Not developing capable team members and not trusting them is the greatest reason why businesses don’t grow. This fear of giving up control and fear of training people will keep you an average shopkeeper all your life. Remember you alone can handle only a certain number of customers in a day. If you develop a capable team and allow them to run the show according to a well-developed system – you can serve thousands of customers in a day. I teach entrepreneurs in my coaching sessions how they can develop an effective Team development and business management system
Mistake No. 3
Not developing leaders: This is a corollary to above. Most entrepreneurs fear developing leaders and giving decision-making powers to them. This is primarily due to two reasons, the first being the erroneous belief that they will make mistakes. Remember that everyone makes mistakes. Even you must have made mistakes in business. There is no other way to learn than from mistakes. Even your leaders will make mistakes and learn. The second fear is that after learning and gaining experience – they may leave and even become competitors. Remember that the market is full of competitors, with newer ones arriving daily. Rather than worry about this person becoming a competitor, worry about improving your systems.
Mistake No. 4
Scattered Focus: Remember that you can make it really big and world-class only in one area of life. Rather than focus on too many things, at least in the beginning – concentrate on one vertical and fully automate it. Only then diversify.
Mistake No. 5
Accounts and Finance Mismanagement: The chief culprit is absence of any accounting system and lack of grip on numbers. I am often very surprised to learn that many entrepreneurs don’t even know their exact turnover and profit numbers – which is the basic of the basics. They are in business for profit, but don’t even know how much profit they made in the last month. This often leads to big financial crunches and the entrepreneur wonders where all the money went. No business planning can be done without the grip on numbers.
I hope the above 5 points, which by no means are exhaustive, will give you a perspective on the present business and help you be aware of the times to come. Please don’t be a one-man-show, don’t think that only you can do the best, do develop leaders for the future, focus on one big thing and have a firm grip on numbers. All the best.
