Creating a business is an incredible and great task to undertake. Amongst new business owners, believe it or not, there are quite a few common mistakes that are made in those oh-so important beginning stages that determine whether or not you will prove to be a success. Discover just some of these common mistakes in this snippet of an interview between Dale Beaumont and Peter Gow and make sure that you are not one to make these same mistakes.
Having run several multimillion dollar business, Peter now consults to some of Australia”s fastest growing businesses and is now the director of Creative Capital.
In your opinion, what are the most common mistakes new business owners make?
Overall, the most common mistake made by new business owners is failure to appreciate what needs to be done in order to be successful. That is, understanding that every stage of the business-building process presents a new set of challenges.
- In the early stages of building a business, it’s all about attracting customers and establishing business viability as quickly as possible. The most common mistake is not clearly identifying the target customers, what they want, and how to get it to them. There are also problems around funding, building a management team and a lack of planning.
- At the next stage of business development, it’s about meeting the customers’ demand and building sales and marketing capabilities. The biggest mistake is not developing marketing collateral and not understanding market positioning.
- When sales and profitability increase, the next stage is all about operational efficiencies and using technology to enhance product delivery and customer retention. The most common mistake is due to poor systems and a lack of documented processes. Documented processes and good systems allow the CEO to delegate more and be much more effective in monitoring performance. New staff can also hit the ground running using the company’s existing systems and procedures.
- The next stage is about rapid product and market expansion. The most common mistake at this stage is the composition of the management team. CEOs are generally asking whether the current team can achieve long-term sustainability. Is this the future team they need to drive the business forward? Significant issues can arise in relation to staff retention and talent development as staff members are required to fulfill different roles as the company grows.
For more of this interview and information on Common New Business Owner Mistakes check out “Secrets of Small Business Owners Exposed!“
