7 mistakes of the entrepreneur: who is to blame and what to do?
Why do some grow and others not? Why does small business remain small, and dreams of big business remain empty dreams? We have been observing entrepreneurs for many years and counted seven system errors that restrain business growth.
Making work on bugs.
Error 1. The mess in the money and the problem with legality
One of the reasons why your business is not growing is fear. You work on gray schemes, accept the “black cash” and are afraid of meeting with the tax. Subconscious restrains growth. You do not know what will happen if there will be large contracts, and what to do with large numbers. Do not hide your head in the sand, the questions will not disappear by themselves.
To develop the business, you have to solve basic problems:
register a business: choose the legal form (IP, LLC, etc.) and the tax system;
introduce the correct reception of money (cash register, acquiring, etc.);
find ways of legal savings (government subsidies, preferential tax systems).
Without solving these basic questions, it is impossible to grow into a big company.
Error 2. “All by myself”
Easier to do it yourself than to trust someone. What are these beliefs? Failure to delegate leads to excessive employment. There is no painless solution to the problem. Deal with the fact that at first others will do worse than you. This is an inevitable loss – take it as a fact. Learn to trust and transfer your tasks to others.
If you already have a rather big business, find a manager. He will become your assistant in the management and take over the current processes.
There are three control points on the path to delegation:
Become a master of Obi-Wan Kenobi – pass the experience to a novice employee, prepare it.
Step aside. Restrain yourself! Do not interfere, even if subordinates fail.
Give clear feedback. Explain why you are unhappy in the details. Unconstructive to say only: “This is not good, redo it.” Explain the criteria by which you evaluate the work.
Learn to delegate and become the owner of the result, not its performer.
Error 3. Saving on a team, working with mediocrity
Professionals are cheaper = lack of professionalism = waste of energy to correct errors = mediocre result.
There is a fine line in the choice: to assume that the employee is about to learn and will work better, or to find a ready-made specialist. This manifests the art of feeling people and leading them.
Two reasons why you still work with amateurs: 1) your authoritarianism – do not tolerate initiative and extinguish ideas at the root, 2) savings – a banal stinginess.
At the same time, a good professional is not always extremely expensive. The difference between a professional and an amateur is always visible by work, not by price.
The solution is to learn how to feel people. Develop this quality in yourself. Take a closer look at the behavior – diligence and the right attitude to work, lack of pretentiousness, ease of communication – these are the qualities that will help to recognize and make a bet on a professional.
Working with professionals is the key to scale. Professionals always pay for themselves. They will free up your attention and time. Do not surround yourself with mediocrity, fight with dullness.
Error 4. Workarounds or “gags”
We are inventive people and we love to find helpful solutions: fasten with tape or scotch, tie up with string, back up. In general, we always find “crutches” instead of a solution.
Admit it if you solve the issues in the same way:
for errors, “apologize” discounts and bonuses;
change goods because of a marriage, but have not implemented a quality control system;
pay salary “by eye”, but did not create a system of motivation.
Gags are a struggle with the consequences, and not the elimination of causes. This is a momentary reaction instead of changing the system.
How to stop stepping on a rake? Look for solutions that will fix the problem systemically:
employees regularly handle the same clarifications – write instructions, checklists or regulations;
applications and calls are lost – set up the CRM system correctly;
customers are confused on the way to your office – take a photo or video instruction.
There are always such solutions. But for some reason, managers choose to save an hour on a quick temporary solution, but then again and again to spend time when the situation repeats. Here and now the same choice – eliminate the causes and do not put gags anymore.
Error 5. Technological backwardness
Many work as they used to: notebook, pen, telephone, word of mouth and meetings. But there are competitors that grow quickly and inexplicably. Why is that? One of the reasons is a technological advantage.
Platforms to attract customers “shoot” and “burn” faster than you have time to utter the word “traffic”. Those who use new technologies, inevitably pull ahead. This is a conscious need – to master and introduce, finally, advanced technologies of traffic, marketing, sales.
