Every time I meet with a new business owner I say the same thing. “Congratulations, and my condolences.” See, I know what a wild ride they are about to embark on.
I congratulate them because being self-employed can be both financially and emotionally rewarding. Nothing beats the feeling of satisfaction that comes from building a business from scratch that supports you, your family, your employees, and their families.
Owning a small business is the essence of the American dream. Nothing else rewards you for your hard work and ingenuity the way owning a successful small business does.
I give them my condolences because they simply don’t know what they don’t know. And what they don’t know causes them to make very common mistakes that result in lost sales, lost profits, and often the failure of their business.
The results of a business failure are devastating for the owner, the owner’s family, and the employees. Business failure is a leading cause of divorces, bankruptcy, depression, and alcohol and drug addiction, and has even led to suicide.
The sad thing is that almost all of these mistakes can be avoided simply by being aware of them. Here is a list of the most common mistakes I see small business owners make, broken down by category.
Be sure to check out Part 2 where we review Marketing Mistakes Small Business Owners Make.