Have you ever made a mistake that you wish you could take back? We all have these types of mistakes and shortcomings. These types of mistakes can be especially problematic for businesses that want to constantly be succeeding in order to stay in the lead. Some of them can be extremely crippling and can easily cause your business to collapse under its own weight. We want to help you avoid these mistakes with a quick list of them to take note of.
Taking Unnecessary Risks
Business is all about taking calculated risks that can heavily pay off for you. A good example of this is acquiring smaller companies to absorb into your business, or taking loans that you can use to push your business forward. However, you need to make sure that you know the limits of your business. Taking unnecessary risks can easily turn your business inside out if done frequently enough.
Running Your Business in a Vacuum
A common problem for many businesses is the fact that they tend to run their business in a vacuum. Just like the vacuum of space, business owners that go for this style of running their business tend to focus solely on their business and forget about everything else happening around them. This should never be the case, as you always have to pay attention to your competition, your customers, the trends in the market you can capitalize on, and available opportunities that would otherwise be hard to see.
Forgetting The Value of Your Customers
A business is comparable to a clock. All of the gears have to be in sync for the entire thing to work. However, some businesses forget a very important gear within the machine that is their business; their customers. Your customers are a valuable asset that you need to keep in mind. Forgetting the value of customer loyalty to your business can be a major problem down the line.
For example, you’re the only business in your industry so you start treating your customers unfairly to get as much money out of them. You essentially have a monopoly in the industry. But what happens when another company comes in with products or services comparable to your own, but with better customer service? Simple, they will stop buying from you and go to the competitor that is treating them more fairly. You won’t be able to recover easily either, as your reputation is already tarnished in the eyes of your former customers.
Not Going After Debts
A common, but crippling, issue that service oriented businesses tend to run into are customers refusing to pay their owed fees. These customers often have a number of excuses as to why they refuse to pay. Some businesses just take these excuses in stride and do not collect. This is a major issue, as you have essentially provided a service for free. This can add up over time and can easily lead to thousands of dollars worth of lost fees. You need to make sure you go after these debts, not just for the money you’re owed, but also because it sends a message to your other clients. If a client manages to get away from your fee scot free, then others are sure to follow.
A good way to make sure that you collect your owed fees is to either have a lawyer on your team, or to hire a staffing company that specializes in your industry. For example, if you’re in the engineering industry you need to hire a company that specializes in engineering debt. Picking a specialist often leads to a higher collection rate, as they are more experienced in your industry
Final Takeaways
Making mistakes is a common occurrence when it comes to running a business. These mistakes often cause your business to lose ground to your competitors, harm your relationship with customers, or directly damage your business in one way or another. But none of them are as harmful as the ones we’ve mentioned. Keeping an eye out for these possible mistakes is the first step to making sure you don’t make them and save your business from the problems that they cause