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I have been there once. Failed in business. I lost my business to the small business killers.
Through this article, you will be liberated from the six things killing your business and your business will be on its way to super growth. As you read take note of every point and apply the antidotes.
Happy reading…………….
The thought that comes to the mind of most people when considering a career is mostly becoming an entrepreneur.
Most people go into businesses without actually taking the time to research and put under consideration the challenges that come with them and how to overcome them.
Going into businesses blindly is one reason small businesses fail.
EXPERT RESEARCH
According to business experts, 20% of small businesses fail in the first year, 30% of small businesses fail in the second year, 50% of small businesses fail mostly after five years of business and 70% of small businesses fail in the tenth year or so of running the business.
If you want to be an entrepreneur you have to think and behave like a scientist. Asking the killer questions, going through the hypothesis, experiment stages and then execution comes right after passing through the experiment stage.
You wonder why your business is slowly dying and you want to find a way out? You are at the right place.
Sometimes the things one does in a business that looks as if they are normal are actually not normal to the well being and health of a business.
Things that slowly kill businesses are equally dangerous to the rapid business killers; the difference is in how fast they kill the business.
None of them actually favours the business and hence you will be running at loss and with time the business will have to close down.
Things like this are actually painful and tough to any business owner who has lost his business to things he is unconsciously doing that are killing the business.
In this article, we shall look at six things killing your small business and see the antidotes to those things so your business will begin to revive again.
If you follow through with this article, avoid the six things killing your business, and applying the antidote, you will see your profit scale up by a reasonable percentage in the coming weeks.
I failed at business too
As an entrepreneur who has tested what failure is in business and also what it takes to sustain a business and grow it, I have put down this article for you to help get your business above the red line and far from going extinct.
Whatever you are about getting here is a result of an experience I had in business growing up. Failing once in a business put me in the position to show you how to avoid the early crumbling of your business.
So…..
Fasten your seat belt as I take you on the road to avoiding the six things killing your business today.
What is are small business Killer?
Business Killers are things that slow down the progress of business, taking away the capital and profits slowly till the business finally becomes a shadow of itself.
Business Killers in other words are things you do consciously, mostly unconsciously that get your business to run on a loss until nothing is left to keep you going leading the business to crumble and you might have to seek small business loans to recover.
Six things killing your business
Whether you have been into business and failed and looking to build a new one from the ground up or your business is slowly dying and you want to scale it up this is for you. Read slowly digest every point and apply the solutions and your business will be on its way to the skies.
1. Lack of Business plan
The lack of a business plan or blueprint to guide you on the way has killed many businesses and is still killing more. Having a definite plan to go by helps a lot in business.
Some entrepreneurs fail in this aspect partly because they don’t know how to write a business plan or how to write a good business proposal.
The business plan should be the first thing to consider when trying to launch a business. One may not have the required skills to write a business plan but we have the internet and this blog you are reading and experts to help us draft a business plan for our businesses.
Importance of a Business plan
Whether you are looking to lunch a new business or trying to expand an existing one a business plan is important.
See a Business Plan as a roadmap to success, giving greater clarity on your day to day business activities from marketing, product/services and even finance.
While so many entrepreneurs try to lunch without a business plan, writing a business plan is an important first step towards the success of one’s business.
For an existing small business, I recommend updating your business plan annually for the option of expansion of your business.
Your plan should include hiring new employees for market analysis and financial projections etc.
2. Not thinking Big
“As he thinketh, so is he”. You have probably heard this say a thousand times.
Not thinking big in a business does not actually give you room for expansion. Thinking small about your business will keep your business at the level of your thinking.
The size of your business is as big as your thinking is.
A mind that thinks big is a great asset to an entrepreneur. It makes you see possibilities in every difficult situation and helps him go to work mentally to solve every problem he is confronted with.
If you don’t think big about your business start today and right now.
Having a business plan and thinking big when combined will propel your business to greater heights.
3. Copying someone else
While it is okay to copy someone a little in business, it is deadly to completely copy what he/she is doing in business. We have experienced different things in life that shape how we do things including business.
Get your mind to think as mentioned in number two above. Be Innovative and create your own business strategy. Be authentic in all you do.
Being authentic and unique in business is a great step towards elevation. Study what your competitors are doing and not doing. Apply it to your business and see you and your business going up.
Sometimes copying a business nearby is not the best thing to do.
4. Lack of Focus
“Jack of all trade is a master on none”. This say is relevant in business as it is in all walks of life.
Having you spread across almost everything things that come your way really kills businesses. An entrepreneur should be able to narrow down on one business and have it grow before launching another one alongside.
Focus on taking your business to a great height before launching another business. Having too many activities slows down the growth of your business as small businesses depend largely on the attention you give them to grow.
5. The fear of success
The fear of Success has killed more business than all the points listed above.
An entrepreneur should not be afraid of his own business success. They fear the success of the business because they think they can’t handle it.
As your business grows to be successful, put measures in place for you to be able to handle the business like getting a system in place.
What I mean by having a system in place is: Employing the right people for the job so that you don’t bug yourself with too much work when the business is soaring high. The Business should be able to run even in your absence.
6. Poor marketing strategy
I once travelled to a town I have never been to before. The need to snap a passport came up and I went out to the street to snap. I couldn’t see a place to do so. Asked about three people and they all gave me the same answer- “I don’t know”.
I continued walking and I stop the fourth person again to ask. He pointed to a shop that passport is snapped there. I walked into the shop and indeed they do it.
After snapping and getting my passport, I asked him why don’t they have a signboard to indicate you snap a passport here? He told me he don’t have the money to do so.
Being like that photographer with no signboard to direct people to your business will be detrimental to you and your business.
Having something to advertise your presence will help a lot in scaling your business.
A simple signboard can help send 10-20 new customers to your business daily. In turn, those customers will go out to tell of your services and send more people to you.
CONCLUSION
Going into business blindly without considering the six things that kill business will actually set your business on its way to the grave.
Before launching any business no matter how small, seek to know the things that turn the needle in the business niche you choose to go into to avoid the business killers.
Hope you found this article on business killers helpful. Please leave a comment in the comment section below telling me how useful this is to you and your business………………
See you at the top
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