7 Mistakes New Business Owners Make During their First 6 Months

Beginning a new business is exciting, but it’s also stressful as a sizeable number of start-ups typically fail within the first year of operations. As reported late last year in an article on small business failures in the New Sydney Morning Herald, the number of new business start-ups declined last year, and overall business failures were up 11% in the third quarter.

There are many factors that can influence whether a new business will survive its first few months of operations and go on to thrive. These factors include a lack of access to capital to grow, as well as underestimating the level of competition that the business will face in its market.

Often businesses fail not because of external factors such as these, but because of inefficiency in the company’s internal processes, or other similar errors made by the company’s owners. 

Here is a brief overview of seven of the most common mistakes I’ve noticed new business owners making during their first few months of operations.

The Importance of Values, Creating Culture and Defining the Mission

Many new business owners come up with a novel concept or unique product idea that gains popularity. At first, sales are high simply because of the newness of the idea. The owner is so caught up in simply producing enough product to fill orders that they forget about the reasons the company exists and what they want to accomplish.

Defining your corporate values - what you will, and will not stand for - is very important to the success of your business. It determines how you will treat others. This affects everything, especially how customers, employees and vendors see you and even how much you can charge for your products.

Defining your mission is equally important as it helps everyone connected with your business to have a single point to focus their efforts upon.

Defining your values and mission are the foundation upon which to build your company’s culture. Organisations with a strong company culture are more resilient to downturns and other obstacles that derail new businesses as the company begins to mature.

New owners should not wait for sales to begin to stall before they take the time to create the company’s culture. This is a step that should be taken very early in the start-up phase so that the company can literally get off on the right foot.

Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

Another critical error is that new owners try to do everything themselves. Not only do they end up drained and exhausted, they also wind up not doing any one task particularly well.

For this reason, new business owners must learn to focus on strategy, and complete only those tasks where they genuinely have a strong talent. New owners must be flexible and open to recruiting the help that they need to do everything else.

While a lack of cash and other resources can make it difficult for new owners to attract talented help, mobile apps, Wi-Fi, cloud computing and other tech makes it easier than ever to gain expert advice from the outside via telecommuting, outsourcing and freelancing.

Invest in the Company, Especially its People

I’ve seen this one often. New owners fail to invest in the company by investing in their people, and instead give in to the temptation to hire work done as cheaply as possible.

Money should be reinvested in the company to create capacity and room to expand and grow for the long term. Rather than using outdated software or other inefficient tools, invest in the company by giving your team the tools, including training, that they need to perform at a high level.

The Importance of Investing in Yourself

Very few people are born with the skills that they need to effectively start and lead a company. The great thing about leadership however, is that nearly every trait, skill and ability can be learned.

For this reason, it’s important for owners to place a priority on developing themselves as they grow their business. Take the time to seek out other new business owners to create a base of support for when times get tough. Look for a mentor that can provide insight and feedback, and act as a sounding board to test out your ideas as you create your corporate strategy. Find coaching in leadership to gain the necessary skill and expertise to successfully run your business.

To Be Able to Take Care of Your Business First Take Care of Yourself

Running a successful business can be stressful. Before you can take care of your business, or anyone else, you must first learn how to take care of yourself.

New business owners should make healthy lifestyle choices such as getting enough rest and exercise, and eating nutritious foods to help better cope with stress. This one step reduces the chance that the owner’s body will break down and fall victim to illness. You can’t work if you’re not well!

To operate a successful business, owners must be fully focused on achieving their goals. While this sounds like a simple task it becomes difficult if you aren’t taking care of yourself and replenishing your energy stores. 

Fail to Trust their Instincts

Do you trust your own judgement? If you are fully focused on your business, no one else knows your company as intimately as you do.

New owners shouldn’t be afraid to trust their instincts. If everything looks great on paper but something still feels wrong, owners must learn to trust their inner voice to guide them to the right course of action.

The worst thing that can happen is that a mistake will be made. If it happens, it’s still okay. Everyone makes mistakes. Owners just need to learn whatever lessons they can from the error and use it to adjust and improve performance. 

The Fear of Failure Guarantees Mediocre Results

Many new business owners develop an unhealthy fear of risk. They fear losing everything and so hold back from giving the venture everything that they have. Embracing fear in this way guarantees mediocrity.

If you want to achieve your best possible results, and for your company to truly succeed, you must be willing to step outside of your comfort zone and give it your all! Risking it all is the only way to achieve peak performance and guarantee a chance at success!

Creativity, innovation, and excellence are born from the drive to do and be the best. So, don’t fear giving it your all and losing everything. New business owners should instead fear not giving enough and not going far enough!

Don’t settle! Be awesome.

We love to work with small, growing or start up businesses with their business strategies, culture development and leadership capability! We will make you rock…

Reach out to us today at [email protected] or www.leadershiphq.com.au for a FREE Consultation!

About Sonia McDonald

Sonia McDonald, CEO and Founder of LeadershipHQ, is an Entrepreneur, Thought Leader, Dynamic Keynote Speaker, Leadership Coach, Advisor and Author of Leadership Attitude (now on BOOKTOPIA!). Reach her at LeadershipHQ or via www.soniamcdonald.com.au

Contact Sonia for a FREE Consultation at [email protected]

DON'T FORGET TO GRAB YOUR COPY OF LEADERSHIP ATTITUDE 

Allow Sonia to guide you through the leadership journey to your destination! Order online from LeadershipHQ or from Amazon!