Want to Run a Successful Business? Avoid These DON’TS

Having your business run successfully is the most rewarding feeling you can have as a business leader. But, in order for a business to grow successfully, a business leader must know how to do the right things and avoid the wrong ones.

Here are the seven DON’TS every business leader must know and avoid if they want to grow their business:

1. DON’T Compromise on Strategy and Planning

You need to create a tactical and strategic plan for your business’ goals. This applies whether you want to grow your business, increase your staff count, add branches, achieve greater prominence, increase revenue and acquire new customers.

Maintaining a good business-to-customer relationship with your existing customers is good practice. However, to be sustainable, you need to diversify and acquire more customers through effective strategies aimed at drawing new customers in.

When formulating strategies and plans, a business leader must think about what it is that they want to achieve in the future. Identifying your business goals is a significant part of the equation that impacts the overall effectiveness of your plan. A business leader also needs to identify business opportunities and look for innovative and effective strategies that will be used during the implementation process.

2. DON’T Neglect Effective Financial Management

Financial Management is one of the most vital aspects involved in the operation of a business. Proper and diligent financial management must be practised consistently because failure to track business finances will ultimately cause the business to fail.

Multiple factors need to be considered in assessing whether your business is struggling with cash flow or not. However, in general, when your expenses exceed the cash you have on hand, this indicates your business is experiencing a problem with cash flow.

To address cash flow problems, business leaders must have the right knowledge and tools. If they lack the proper expertise or skill, it is highly recommended that they hire financial consultants, accountants or other professional experts to help them get their business’ finances in order.

3. DON’T Rely on Unwritten Agreements

In business, it is vital to always have your agreements codified in writing rather than depend on verbal confirmations or plans. Written contracts provide you with peace of mind and security, and reduce the likelihood of misunderstandings arising when dealing with other parties such as contractors, partners, vendors, etc.

Relying on informal, undocumented agreements poses a high degree of risk to businesses in terms of supply, business relationships and legalities.

4. DON’T Forget to be Proactive

Change is inevitable. So, being proactive is one of the most important qualities of a business, especially when things are not going well. A business must be resilient and have strategic options prepared to allow it to cope with and surpass pressing challenges.

There are times when unexpected things happen in an organisation—losing staff, encountering financial difficulties and dealing with price hikes are such occurrences. These types of events call for the business to have a contingency plan in place which is ready to be actioned.

Developing a contingency plan serves as a powerful backup in times of need. And, it helps the business to quickly and proactively take action in addressing problems that both business leaders and the team may not be able to control.

5. DON’T Underestimate Market Trends

Adapting to the constant changes in the market is crucial for businesses. Hence, business executives should determine the innovative tactics and techniques required by the business to enable them to provide outstanding experiences to their customers.

One of the benefits involved in adapting to market trends is the advancement of technology. This advancement enables the business to accomplish a great deal of work in a much shorter time frame. Also, through the use of digital platforms such as social media, businesses are able to reach potential customers in wider traffic.

Market trends are constantly evolving. Consequently, when a business fails to adapt, it will also fail.

6. DON’T Rush the Recruitment Process

Growing businesses require more staff on their teams. However, an organisation’s hiring process should be systematic. Otherwise, management could risk hiring unfit candidates.

For a hiring process to be effective, management must identify what position they need filled and specify what duties the hiree will be performing. If it is to find the best fit, it is important for a business to have detailed position descriptions, to specify the needed qualifications for the job, and to run comprehensive interviews without compromising on the business’ needs.

7. DON’T Do Everything Yourself

It will be difficult for a business leader to stay productive and effective if they tackle numerous complex responsibilities all by themselves. Hiring multi-skilled employees or external contractors can be the answer to this problem.

Also, a consultant can help you evaluate your current position in the market and identify the areas of your business (and gaps in your team) that need improvement. So, reach out to us if your business is struggling.

Running a successful business requires multiple considerations and efforts. In order for a business to sustain growth and stay competitive in the market, business leaders must learn and avoid these seven DON’Ts. Otherwise, the business will not be able to achieve its potential, targets or desired objectives.