Top Ten
Mistakes Made In The First Few Years of Business
by: Catherine Franz
Consultants, coaches,
accountants, engineers, and other solopreneurs starting a service
business, make common mistakes that cost them to be ineffective
with their resources. In turn, these mistakes bring on a slow,
frustrating success or even force them to remove their shingle
because they run out of resources, normally money.
You would think
with all the training and knowledge now available that these
individuals would be making fewer mistakes. Actually, 2004 had
a large increase in business failures due to selling a service
before they cultivated their service.
You will want to
see if any of these items are biting into your assets. You will
want to be honest here:
1. You don't have
all the knowledge needed to bring your business to fruition,
yet you think you do. Alternatively, you could be missing the
skills. Whatever you are missing, you are going to need the
finances to close the holes -- either through a self-education
process or using outside support.
2. You aren't honest
with yourself on how much effort it needs to cultivate your
ideas and projects. Do you start a project and give up after
you work on it, and work on it, and lose momentum or energy
to complete it? If you do this frequently, you want to evaluate
your ego’s presence.
3. Do you buy into
societies "quick get" philosophy? Are you always buying
the next best answer to slice bread? Stop chasing possibilities
and get down to working your processes.
4. You are in it
for the wrong reasons. You have an eye on the prize and don't
want to work the journey. If you want to make exceptional money,
it’s going to take two or three times the time you estimated.
Is your eye on the possibilities or on the work? There is a
time for both, do you know when its time, and when it’s not?
5. Do you stop
too soon? Understand that it takes more than one or two tries.
You need to make small adaptations and keep working it. Do you
point the finger at the marketplace? This doesn't work; the
finger is on your processes, your systems.
6. You want to
do it alone or you feel alone on your journey, and you operate
that way. Don't ask for help from the wrong people. You are
setting up your request for failure. Ask for assistance from
people who are capable of giving it to you, people who are unattached
to the outcome.
7. You are either
under funded physically, mentally, or financially. You can run
a service business with almost no money, yet you will need to
make up for it in time. Your time will be the money exchange.
8. You spend more
than you make no matter how much money your business earns.
Do you have a tendency to buy more things because you are making
more money? You are sabotaging your own success. Cushions are
more important than new things.
9. You keep looking
for the next piece of information for the answer, yet you still
haven't used the other information accumulated. Stop accumulating.
Start integrating what you have into your processes or systems,
and then look for new parts to add.
10. You harbor
a hidden shadow that if you do sell your services, and it goes
well, you will really have to get down and give the service.
This is a fear of success; it is usually hidden very well.
If you even suspect
that you fall into one of these, your truthfulness and acknowledgment
will determine your future success; you will want to find some
support to work through it quickly. These mistakes cost people
their business everyday. Even if one is ten percent correct,
find what that ten percent is, acknowledge it, find a consultant
or coach and solve it. Don't drag it through another year with
the similar results.
Make a choice,
be honest, and find a way to change it for the last time. Afterwards,
lift up your glass in a toast. You deserve it.
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About The Author:
Catherine Franz, a Business
Coach, specializes in writing,
marketing and product development. Newsletters and
additional articles: http://www.abundancecenter.com
blog: http://abundance.blogs.com
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