Any business can lose focus and direction over the years, and if not addressed quickly it can be its downfall. Staying at the top of your game takes dedication, commitment and the ability to embrace changes in your marketplace.
A successful business is also able to juggle many facets at once. Focusing too much on any one area of a business, can lead to other equally as important areas being neglected. Focusing too much on your marketing strategy for example, but not connecting well with customers can lead to a loss in customer service standards and can destroy the good name of your brand very quickly.
The most common mistakes businesses make, include:
- Poor product placement – your products may not be hitting the right outlets to reach your target audience. Re-assess your product base on a regular basis.
- Poor pricing – your products must be competitively priced in order to sell. But, pricing them so low that you make no profit out of a sale is a highway to disaster. Explore your market place and find a price that really works.
- Lack of consistency – the standard of your products, your service and your staff must remain consistent at all times.
- Be different – you must be able to tell your customers why your product is different or better than your competitors. You must be able to differentiate the product or service you are offering.
- Know your audience – you must undertake regular market research to understand the wants and needs of your audience. If you don’t, they will leave you behind as they move on to the next big thing.
- Focus on your business as a whole – never concentrate too much on just one area of your business. Design, manufacturing, marketing, customer services etc are all important pieces of the pie.
- Lack of planning – from the moment you start your business you must always be planning for the future; how to grow, and also how to deal with problems that may arise. Failing to plan for bumps along the way, or even how to handle success is the downfall of many businesses.
- Lack of capital – an obvious one, but all too common a cause of failure. You need to ensure that you are always able to pay your bills and other financial commitments.
- Track you results – if you have successfully planned the path of your business, you will need to measure your results along the way. Track your progress using regular key performance indicators.
Starting and running a business is never easy, but it can be exciting and if you learn from your mistakes it can be a long lasting and profitable career choice. Markadept can help you with the business development, marketing and infrastructure requirements. Call us today to find out more.
