5 Critical Mistakes Small Business Owners Make and How to Avoid Them

Running a small business is not always easy. You might already be piled with so many decisions to make and many things held in the pipeline. So much pressure can cause you to make a poor decision that might ache your potential for success. 

There are no set rules to get your business off the ground, but there are some small business mistakes that might happen in the nascent stages. Making mistakes can be a positive experience in terms of learning. But you can save a lot of time, money and labour if you can avoid some mistakes before you make them. 

Here are some common small business mistakes and tips to overcome them.

7 Common small business mistakes to avoid

Setting Off Without a Business Plan

A strong business plan is the foundation of your small business. It is like the roadmap to keep your business running. It tools you to structure your operations and measure your progress. Most people think that a business plan is necessary only for the sake of fundraising. A foundational business plan of course works great for fundraising, but it is a lot more than a fundraising tool. A solid business plan is a blueprint for laying out operational, financial and marketing strategies. 

Your business plan should tell the financial story of your business, right from your past to present and extend to the future. If you are just starting out, your business plan should be the financial outlook for the next five years. Set precise monthly and quarterly goals for the whole year. 

Not Detaching Your Personal and Business Finances

Mingling your personal expenses with those of business is one of the most common missteps that every new small business owner makes. Though it may seem easy in the beginning, it will pull up a greater mess at the time of reconciliation. You don’t even have to get a business credit card right on day one, but you shall keep a separate account dedicated to handling your business expenses and income. A business account will make your financial flow transparent and easy to track and substantiate business expenses to take advantage of tax deductions. It will also be an additive advantage for the line of credit to fill your cash gaps.

Avoiding New Technology

The world spins with new technology every day. The most common small business mistake is neglecting technology and its benefits. Everything in this world is automated. Automation does the work more efficiently, accurately and in a timely manner. Not just time and efficiency, automation can put a lot of money back in your pockets. So, embrace technology and automate everything that you can. New technology might sometimes be intimidating and takes time to understand and adapt, but it is worth the shot. The most irking and time-consuming part of small business accounting is manual keying. You shall start automating your business from bookkeeping and accounting and then move on to operational and customer relation automation. If you are using QuickBooks for your accounting, then PayTraQer - Powerful automation to sync online payments with QuickBooks is a must-have application for your small business accounting. Update your business with such automation tools to keep your business alive in the crowded business competition. The most common small business mistake is to neglect technology.

Neglecting Marketing

Being a small business owner, it is easy to get engaged in daily business operations that include inventory order, order processing, data input and other additionals. While you focus on all these business operations, you may miss out on the marketing part. 

The term marketing is all about future sales like sowing. The plant today will give you tender benefits tomorrow. Persistence and patience are all it takes. If the plan is to make this successful business for the long term, handing it over to the next generation is a better option and remember, not to neglect marketing. Be sure to invest 20% of your time in marketing.

Becoming an expert in marketing involves a certain process that helps you to move great. The activities like deciding to expand an existing product line, renewing products and dumping unprofitable ones, improved plans and better-investing skills that give you the biggest return for the investment. The above pointers are crucial responsibilities for your success. 

Being Scared of Social Media 

A big boon in this business industry is social media. However small the business might be, social media can have a tremendous effect on your business. In recent years the most affordable and highly efficient way of marketing is done with these platforms from the small business owners. Thus for a safer side, one should know the tricks of social media marketing to avoid unnecessary scares. Most preferably there are two major ways, one is you choose the right network and the next is to make yourself clear about the goals.

Ignoring the Competition

Any business has competitions. Ignoring your competition is a dangerous small business mistake to avoid. Running and chasing is a persistent act to do while you own a business. The biggest motivation for you is the competitors. Thus, they decide who you are and what you're gonna do next. 

Researching their recent achievements and learning ethics from the competitors will bring you real success. Thus it helps in analysing their morals and predicting their next move. So, always stay in the know of your competitors’ business trends and take actions accordingly. 

On the other hand, conducting a SWOT (Strength, Weakness, opportunity and threats) helps you more to beat out the competition.

Finally, It's time to do your job perfectly. Begin with a marketing plan and be ready to reach your new customers right away. Ignore the competition and focus on the competitors to be a successful business person.

Don't Expand too Quickly

Being a small business owner there will be a great need to be successful soon. The most common small business mistakes are trying to copy cat and expanding your business. It might be tempting looking at the big enterprises, but things take time. Do not hesitate, yet stay proactive.

Wrapping Up

A step by step process is the only way to be successful and patience is another formula to make it done. So do not get carried away with the whistles and lucrative successes of your competitors and chew more than what you can. Keep your business steady and escalate only if your business is immune enough to take the blow, in case if any. Remember, slow and steady wins the race. Examine your business progress and take strides only when necessary.