Missteps, miscalculations and outright duds are unfortunate, yet
ever-present starters in any small-businesslineup. If nothing else, if
it weren't for the battalion of snafus that lay in wait, every mom and
pop kiosk would sport a bottom line that rivaled the New York Yankees'.
But what can really spell the difference between an established
powerhouse and a perennial cellar dweller are chronic mistakes — those
repeated and overlooked blunders.
Here are five persistent pitfalls that may apply to you and your
business , along with steps to purge them.
Mistake 1: Advertising always works. If, say, you've been running a
particular ad spot for years but with little to show for the expense,
you've tripped over the assumption that advertising in and of itself
never fails. Not so. Not only is it critical to understand and embrace
your business's particular niche, it's equally imperative that you know
your target market and, in turn, pin down the advertising media that
best hits that segment. (For more tips here, see this special report.)
"The biggest mistake I see is putting advertising out there without a
clue if it's really reaching the right people," says Tom Egelhoff, who
publishes SmallTownMarketing.com. "You've really got to define your
company's market. That, and you have to hold any ad sales rep you're
working with accountable for the match of their media with your market."
Mistake 2: Build it and they will come storming to your door. Akin to
the mistaken sanctity of advertising is misdirected faith in the
inherent appeal of your business . Just be there, slap a few ads in the
local fishwrap and customers are queuing up by the break of dawn.
Success mandates legwork. Related to that, another ongoing oversight is
failure to get out into the community and network on a personal level,
both with potential clients as well as businessassociates. "You
can buy into the fallacy that advertising alone brings in business— but
it only brings in lookers," Egelhoff says. "Networking creates buyers
who will come to you because they know you or have heard of you, not
from a cold ad."
Mistake 3: Love you, no matter what. Although the human element to
gaining attention and relationships is essential, don't look past any
relationship that, over time, is more problematic than productive.
Perhaps you've had a client for years who chronically moves with the
speed of erosion when it comes to paying his tab. By the same token, you may have held onto a sub-par employee in
hopes that her performance would improve over time. Take some time to
review carefully the people with whom you work to see if any element of
your relationship has deteriorated over time. If, by chance, you spot
someone whose presence may be doing your businessmore harm than good,
don't play the nice guy at the expense of your operation. "If someone is
keeping you up at night, or an employee simply hasn't worked out, it may
be time to sever that relationship," says Lisa Kanarek, publisher of
HomeOfficeLife.com.
Mistake 4: One size fits all — always. Many chronic problems are
creepers — those seemingly innocuous twinges that grow into chronic
pain, often at a slow enough crawl that makes them tough to spot.
Nowhere is that more the case than in your physical workplace. For some,
that may mean a Lilliputian-sized office that's somehow handling an
operation that over time has grown into Gulliver. By contrast, there's
the businessthat, for years, has doled out cash for office space that's
as empty and unwanted as a Pauly Shore film festival. Give your
workspace the once-over routinely to make certain that what you have for
space is, in fact, what you need. Pay particular attention to
home-office space where the price of success can, after a year or so,
mean needlessly cramped quarters.
Mistake 5: Alone is best. Locked in a lone wolf persona, one final
persistent pitfall — particularly for home-based and startups in the
first few years — is the mistaken notion that it's more efficient to do
it all yourself. Trouble is, looking after one task means idling another
— and that may ultimately slow profitability and growth. If you're
spreading yourself too thinly or feel that even 24/7 doesn't allow
enough time to address every need, see if bringing on some help may, in
fact, generate more income than outgo. Break down the numbers to see if
the expense of a sales rep or marketer may be more than offset by the
productivity it frees up for you. "For instance, marketing can get you
work, but when it comes in you have to stop marketing to perform that
work," Egelhoff points out. "And, when the jobs are done, the income
stops until marketing creates work again."
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