8 ways to gain business knowledge quickly and become successful

8 ways to gain business knowledge quickly and become successful

by | Apr 8, 2022

Business Insights

8 ways to gain business knowledge quickly and become successful

April 08, 2022

Ways for getting your business knowledge rapidly
For someone just starting a business it can be intimidating to see veterans boasting around with their business knowledge. In such moments you should remember that these experts were once rookies themselves.

But what exactly is business knowledge? 

As it turns out, it is the sum of experience, skillsets and industry insight which you gather through time. Now, some would say getting an MBA would be a good start. While we do agree that college is important, we also agree that it’s not key for someone’s success in business.

There are other sources of business knowledge that can shape you as a professional. However, one thing is for sure – you should never stop learning and upgrading your knowledge.

Books to increase your business knowledge

Start from your local library. Usually, there are entire sections dedicated to business. Pick a few titles that spark your interest and study them, don’t just read them leisurely. If you already know your niche, that should be a good starting point too. The deeper you understand your niche, the easier for you would be to conquer it.

Even though you might be tempted to read motivational or business books, we suggest you don’t dwell too much on them. Of course, there are some pearls in the dust, but the majority are just not worth your time. 

On the other hand, biographies, memoirs, and autobiographies of successful entrepreneurs and professionals have proven to be a gold mine for business knowledge. This is likely because they are based on true facts which means it’s not just empty words or theories.

Books every entrepreneur should read:

  • Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
  • The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
  • Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
  • The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau
  • The Art of War by Sunzi

Podcasts

Although podcasts have been around for quite a while, it’s only in the most recent years that they’ve gained such popularity. So much so that it seems like everyone has a podcast these days. But despite the oversaturation, podcasts have proven to be a perfect source of knowledge for the busy, always-on-the move entrepreneur. You can play them whenever you want, whether while commuting, cooking or showering. 

Below you’ll find a list of the top 5 podcasts in our opinion, but we strongly encourage you to do a research and find the best ones in your niche.

Business News

Things shift momentarily. What was relevant yesterday doesn’t necessarily mean it would also be tomorrow. Hence, you need to stay up to date and follow the latest trends and happenings. 

It may be that once TV and newspapers were the only sources of business news, but that’s not the case today. Online there’s a zillion websites, blogs, vlogs, and God knows what else. Find the ones which resonate with you the most and keep up with them. Actually, Feedly, a news aggregator app can help you “keep up with the topics and trends you care about, without the overwhelm”.

Business Events to gain more knowledge

Meetups, conferences, seminars, trade shows… More or less all of them are a priceless source or knowledge you could use to grow your business. Whether from the speakers or the people attending, you’ll have a plenty to learn. 

Events are good because you no longer can hide behind the book and you have to put to practice what you’ve learned by now – for example, your communication skills.

If you can’t find any events near the place you live, you can always search for online events. After all, we live in the Internet age so there’s no excuse.

Oh, and if you live in or near London subscribe to our email list and we’ll send you a list of events every month.

Online Business Courses

Companies often complain that former students are not ready for real work. Part of the problem — is low business writing skills. How could it happen, considering all the essays they had to write? Those essays are mostly not relevant to real-life business writing assignments. If you want to learn something valuable and fast, ask for help with papers from a legit Smart Writing Service essay writing company, and find some courses online that will teach you professional business and marketing writing.

This twist requires some investment, as writing services don’t create content for free, but it is worth it. Informal education is major right now, and courses are leading the way. Again, this can be done in-person and online as well, depends on your preferences, financial power and location.

Although in Enterprise League we all have college degrees, it’s no secret that we love us a good course! You can often find us on Udemy getting to the bottom of a topic that’s caused us trouble. It’s fair to say that courses, including entrepreneurship novels, helped us gain knowledge in areas we previously had no idea about. 

Besides the above-mentioned online learning platform, here are three more we hold in high regards:

 

Mentor

You can read or listen to things but having a mentor to guide you through it all is much more effective. Before we continue encouraging you to find yourself a mentor, it’s also our duty to warn you that there are many people out there who call themselves mentors and business experts but are not worthy of the title.

This has to be a person you click with, someone who would be able to lead you to your goals with their advice.

Videos and TED talks

Watching videos of experts on stage, or even at their homes, sharing their experience with the world is a quite convenient way to learn a thing or two about business. Thanks to Youtube and their likes, you can find hours of video content available for free.

One thing is for sure, if TED talks can’t teach you how to do business, they can surely motivate you to accomplish your goals.

In person training

Practice

Unless you put to practice the things you’ve learned from the sources listed above, no matter how insignificant you think they might be, it’s all in vain. Humans learn best by trial and error, that’s a fact. 

Once you start doing, you’ll be able to uncover things that no podcast or course can teach you. You’ll be your own teacher.

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How to spot a valuable customer and keep the focus on the right place

How to spot a valuable customer and keep the focus on the right place

by | Apr 6, 2022

Business Insights

How to spot a valuable customer and keep the focus on the right place

April 06, 2022

Everything you need to know about finding out who is your most valuable customer

In business, everything revolves around customers. Whether it’s about how to attract more, how to deal with rude customers, or how to keep them happy, it’s always about them and that’s the way it should be. 

Therefore, small businesses usually think the more the merrier. But is it really? As bad as it sounds, not all customers are equally important for your business. That’s why knowing which one is a valuable customer for your business is highly important.

In business, you’ll learn, it’s quality over quantity. Especially in the long run. Therefore, you should identify your most valuable customers and keep your focus on them.

One of your more valuable customers could be more worth to your business than 10 others combined together. And it’s not just about how much money they spend on your services or products. There are other factors you should consider as well.

8 simple ways to identify who’s your most valuable customer

Identifying a valuable customer will help you with customer retention. And as you may know, investing in the retention of your loyal customer base is cheaper than attracting new customers.

The following examples will help you learn from someone else’s experience and to identify the most valuable customers. That will help you come up with your own formula.

Good company culture fit

With all the mistakes I’ve made as an entrepreneur, I would say that the biggest thing that I would go back and tell my younger self is that client fit should be a bigger focus than client budget. My most valuable customers have been people that I get along with personally. In our sales process, before we even send a proposal out we ask ourselves “Is this someone I would want to hang out with?”

Just because someone has the money and wants to work with you doesn’t make them a good fit for you, your company, or your employees. My biggest successes in business have come from working with people I like over people who can pay me. I try not to subject myself or my team to work with people who aren’t kind, genuine, and caring above all else.

We turn down a lot of business now because the vibe isn’t right. We don’t want to work with just anyone who can pay our fees – we want partners.

Larissa LaMaster, COO and Co-Founder of Boundless Media

Vocal brand advocating

The way we identify our most valuable customers is quite simple. They are those who recommend us to friends and family and are vocal brand advocates on social media.

We know when a customer has come from a recommendation or referral because we offer referral discounts and we find our brand advocates using keyword analysis tools like Meltwater, which allow us to sort through our social media impressions and incoming brand mentions.

By tracking which customers are actively and positively passing our name around social media, we have a good idea who our most valuable customers are because these are the people who are essentially doing free marketing for us. Then, we try to turn our followers into customers.

Bryce Welker, CEO at CPA Exam Guy

Repeating purchases

As time goes on you will begin to see which customers come back for your services. If someone is always eager to work with you again then you can easily notice that they are an important customer.

Customers that are always eager to work with you again should always be treated as if you were friends. Be casual with them and don’t try to haggle with them.

Transparency is always best when you find a loyal customer because they will appreciate you being honest with them as a business. Once this trust is established then you will find that they will be even more inclined to come back for more and tell others about your company as well.

Chris Gadek, Head of Growth at AdQuick

A tested formula

The marketing formula I have used over years to identify the most valuable customer is the Customer Lifetime Value formula. The method looks at customer’s average spends on your business and their frequency of purchase. This method also pays importance to what it costs to acquire the customer, the cost of servicing the customer, etc.

To calculate the Customer Lifetime value, use the following formula: Customer Lifetime Value = (Average Order Value per Customer) x (Number of Orders per Year) x (Customer Retention Rate) – (Cost of Acquiring the Customer).

Veron Black, CEO at Asaa88

Highly supportive and engaged

Tracking down your most valuable customers won’t be tough because these customers definitely stand out amongst the rest. These are the customers who are very loyal to your service and show a keen interest in what you do.

While analyzing the frequency of customer sales is one way to draw up a list, you could go one step further and take a look at the relationship your customers share with your brand. Your star customers will be highly supportive and engaged with everything you do. This could be anything from sending more customers your way, leaving great Google reviews, getting in touch with you to share their appreciation, or subscribing to your services long-term.

Harry Morton, Founder of LowerStreet

Multiple qualities

To identify our most valuable customers, we look at three factors: length of time spent using our software, fleet size, and interest in sharing and promoting our service. Since our services are subscription-based and we charge per vehicle, it’s obviously a goal of ours to attract businesses with large fleets that stay on our service indefinitely.

However, we also give a lot of weight to business customers with smaller fleet sizes that promote us within their industry, leave us positive feedback in online reviews, and recommend us to friends. We call this good reach, and the customers with good reach are often the key to our expansion and growth. Retaining them is just as important to us as retaining larger customers who technically bring in more money.

Daivat Dholakia, Director of Operations at Force by Mojio

Ask for feedback

In my understanding, although social media makes it easier, most customers never express their opinions about a company’s goods. Typically, only the top 10% (very satisfied) and bottom 10% (extremely unsatisfied) of

a company’s customers offer their opinions about its service. Any customer who is willing to share their thoughts with a business is extremely valuable.

Lulu Albanna, Co-Founder of WRC Media

Customer feedback is extremely important in business. However, not everyone is willing to write one for your company and products, so if you have customers who provide feedback, make every effort to keep them. They are the most valuable, and they also help to improve things that need to be improved because you will have an idea from the customer’s point of view.

Lucas Travis, Founder of Inboard Skate

Pay attention to your data

The best way to identify your most valuable customers is to analyze your customer data and identify patterns and trends that indicate which customers are the most valuable. Some factors that may be considered include customer lifetime value, purchase frequency, and average order size.

Analyzing your customers is an art and a science, and there is no one bullet solution. Treat them with respect, understanding, and individualized attention, and they will reward you with their business.

Serg Valencia, Founder of SERG VALENCIA

It’s critical to keep track of your data so you can identify customers who make frequent purchases from your services. If a consumer is always ready to buy your items, that customer is precious, and you should treat them with the respect that they deserve. Providing customers with incentives or discounts is a great way to maintain their trust and interest.

June Griffith, Founder at Garden Furniture

Conclusion

Identifying your most valuable customers is based on factors like purchasing power, brand advocating, social proof, etc. This makes customers with lesser purchasing power which are excellent brand advocates equally valuable as big spenders who are shy on referrals.

What’s important is to have a personalised relationship with your valuable customers and reward their loyalty appropriately.

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Improving your B2B partnerships: Everything you need to know

Improving your B2B partnerships: Everything you need to know

by | Feb 25, 2022

Business Insights

Improving your B2B partnerships: Everything you need to know

February 25, 2022

Best options for improving b2b partnerships

When your business relies on others to deliver its services, you can never put too much effort into your relationships. Improving your communication means better services for your customers, higher ROIs, and increased opportunity for both parties. Every organization has its unique voice and flow. This means the relationship you have with each partner will differ. Although your business should always stay true to its values, flexibility will enable you to both broaden and deepen your collaborations with other brands.

7 key factors for improving your B2B partnerships

In B2B marketing, the importance of building long-lasting and sustainable relationships with your business partners is one of the most vital elements. Understanding how to start building relationships can help you have more confidence in your approach and ability to connect with your B2B partners.

Master in-house communication

When a partner reaches out to someone in your company, do they have to reiterate everything they last discussed? Is there always information being overlooked or lost in translation? Your in-house communication heavily impacts the experience others have with your brand. In today’s digital world you need to streamline your online communications as much as possible so that everyone is clear and on the same page. Make sure that you use the right tools and set guidelines. These help employees perform their jobs better while increasing your entire organization’s flow. This, in turn, leads to greater synergy both in and outside of your partnerships.

Define your vision

You know what your business stands for, but how do your objectives align with your collaborators’? Partnerships need to have a shared mission for their collaboration to be successful. Two brands operating independently are bound to encounter issues. You need shared goals, a roadmap, and universal metrics to effectively communicate. Taking the extra steps to establish these factors will lead to much more rewarding relationships.

Know your value proposition

When businesses want to collaborate with another brand, they often fail to present their own value clearly. This can lead to a lot of ignored requests that delay your growth. Another common mistake when asking to collaborate with a business is focusing on what you want. Flip the script, and focus on leading with your organization’s strengths. Your brand’s positioning should pave the way to illustrate the potential benefits of collaborating. This could be:

    • Increased marketing reach
    • Greater customer engagement
    • Better results for less time
    • Access to greater technology
    • Improved organization

Use a value proposition template to get the ball rolling. Build yours with a close team, and make sure that the values you endorse shine through in your solutions.

Upgrade your resources

You want to position your business as a leader in its industry. You also want your customers to feel confident in your ability to meet their evolving needs. Your partners will also expect the same, only their needs differ. B2B partnerships require pleasing two audiences simultaneously. Even if you share a marketplace, you cater to different segments. You want to create harmony, and that requires having the best possible resources at your disposal.

Let’s say a collaboration results in greater consumer demand. To meet this, you’ll need to have the best fleet management software and streamlined system to satisfy your new consumers. Installing the latest technology, like GPS fleet tracking software, shows partners that you’re serious about delivering the best results. It also enables you to improve your daily operations for lower costs and less time. Successful B2B collaborations flourish most when each organization is already thriving in its respective industry.

Don’t avoid difficult conversations

You may be two businesses, but you’re also run by humans who won’t always see eye-to-eye. Rather than avoid heavy discussions or disagreements, meet them head-on. However, there is a caveat here. Being too forward can come off as aggressive and power-hungry. You want the partnership to always be rooted in equanimity.

Create an open space for both sides of any discussion to garner mutual respect. Make sure that you also have the appropriate parties handling different disputes. Two marketing managers shouldn’t be attempting to resolve issues that fall under finance or IT. Managers should also be heavily invested in all collaborations, and when appropriate, shareholders should be included as well. Openness across every level of the corporate hierarchy ultimately creates higher satisfaction on both ends.

Keep an open-door policy

While there may be certain expectations and requirements for a collaboration, it should never feel like an all-or-nothing deal. Allow yourself and your partners to have exit strategies that minimize conflict and damage to either party. Life happens, and that means circumstances may render either side unable to fulfill their promises. Make sure that in the early days of collaborating, you establish what steps to take if trouble arises.

Respect differences

Embrace the fact that your partners will think differently. They satisfy customers in different ways, and they have their own approach to problem-solving that makes them an asset, not a competitor. Rather than try to make a company align more with yours, find a shared goal and build from there. By working together, you can forge stronger partnerships that help both organizations grow.

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Crucial factors to consider when choosing your business location

Crucial factors to consider when choosing your business location

by | Dec 11, 2021

Business Insights

Crucial factors to consider when choosing your business location

December 11, 2021

Factors to consider when choosing a business location
Location, location, location. It is all about the business location. You may have the most exceptional product or service on earth, but if your business is located in the middle of nowhere, the reality is you won’t make much money. 

Firstly it’s important to find out what business location is good for the type of business you operate. Are you a retail business, mobile business, industrial site, or are you expanding from online business to online and brick-and-mortar? Every business type needs to prioritize different factors when choosing a business location, but there are some fundamental factors that apply to all types of businesses. When choosing a location, you should also consider if you want to announce a new business location for marketing and publicity purposes.

9 things to keep in mind when choosing a business location

A business location strategy takes planning and research and a willingness to thoroughly vet all of your options. To help you, we have carefully selected the most crucial factors to consider, when choosing a business location for your business. With these helpful tips, you can identify the best place to locate your expanding business. 

Proximity to the market

The closer you are to your customers, the greater the chance that they will buy from you again. Who is your customer and where are they located? Are they other manufacturing companies? or are they an end consumer? You must have answers to these questions, before choosing a business location.

Rent price

You might think this goes without saying but the rent price is not all you need to consider when it comes to money. When choosing a business location you must consider the hidden cost of doing business as well. Renovations, taxes, utility upgrades, minimum wage requirements, and economic incentives are costs that can increase your costs or save you some money. 

Moreover, don’t underestimate the power of word of mouth. Before you sign the rental papers, speak with other business owners in that area. Find out as much as you can about the location. In the end, you can never know for sure whether a business location will bring success to your business or not, but making thorough research will help you ensure if a location is the best fit for your business.

Demographics

Demographics are without a doubt, one of the most significant factors to consider when choosing a business location. It’s important to be near your target customer group. For example, you don’t want to sell gaming consoles in an area populated with older generations. The sales will be higher in an area dense with your target market.

Infrastructure and accessibility

Good infrastructure is beneficial to any kind of business. Power and water supply, good road connections are just a few factors to consider when choosing your business location.

Lack of enough parking spaces for your employees, or accessibility for people with disabilities, can be an issue in some locations. A good location for business is usually not in a busy city area but exclusions apply. Nobody wants their employees to spend hours getting to work. Therefore, choose a location that won’t cause any problems with daily routines and tasks.

Distribution network

If your business is doing manufacturing, you’ll require a good location for a business start-up. Nobody likes to spend more money on transportation than they have to. Think twice before choosing a business location, good proximity to suppliers is key in minimizing logistics costs.

Fortunately, you can leverage Enterprise League to find a pool of suppliers near your location. It’s free and it’s simple to use. Just set up your company profile within a minute and find the best suppliers around you with a single search.

Competition – to be closer or not

This business location factor is a double-edged sword. It creates both an advantage and a disadvantage. For instance, if the location has a lot of surplus customers because of your competitors, you might attract them as well– an extra benefit for your business. However, it can also go in the opposite direction – if both sides sell the same product, one team will end up losing. 

Moreover, taking over a business location that’s not saturated by your competition might be a great opportunity to kick-start your business. But make sure that your product or service is in high demand in that area. Keep in mind that the reason your competition is low in some locations might indicate that it just doesn’t fit your business type.

Remote business location

A remote location is another flexible solution that can help any business. Having your business on a B2B platform gives you the benefit to access and work with any location worldwide. You will no longer have location as a barrier and you can easily collaborate with companies from every location and all sectors. Start using the B2B platform, share business tenders, receive proposals and share deals.

Safety

Even though safety might be underestimated it’s still one of the most crucial factors when choosing a good business location. This mostly applies to businesses that might be at a higher risk for burglary and theft but applies to every type of business as well. Your and your employee’s safety can’t be compromised, especially if your business operates during the night.

Recruiting efforts

If you are planning to hire employees, good access to public transportation will be a big plus for your business. Finding quality employees is not easy these days, so don’t put yourself in a position to lower your standards because you couldn’t entice a qualified workforce.

Conclusion

There are a lot of factors to consider when choosing a business location. From the rent price to available parking, to market demand, it’s all worth it since picking a good location will significantly help you kick-start your business.

The closer the products are to your customers, the higher your market value. Lastly, after going through all these factors, judge your location from customers’ or employees’ perspectives, besides from you as a business owner, and get even more insights to help you make the best decision.

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Mistakes entrepreneurs make: 13 terrible mistakes to avoid at any cost

by | Oct 19, 2021

Uncategorized

Mistakes entrepreneurs make: 13 terrible mistakes to avoid at any cost

October 19, 2021

Mistakes that entrepreneurs make

Making mistakes in business is often regarded as something negative. However, the mistakes entrepreneurs make are just opportunities to learn and grow. Yes, business mistakes can be costly and fatal for a company, but we can confidently say that there never existed an entrepreneur who hasn’t done at least one of the biggest business mistakes. 

The important thing about the mistakes entrepreneurs make is to rise above them and not fall into desperation. Drowning in shame and guilt after making serious or even trivial business mistakes is unallowed in entrepreneurship.

Moreover, you must deal with the fear of making decisions. Of course, there is always the possibility of making the wrong choice but that shouldn’t scare you. In fact, it should inspire you and make you bolder.

The important thing about the mistakes entrepreneurs make is to rise above them and not fall in desperation. Drowning in shame and guilt after making serious or even trivial business mistakes is unallowed in entrepreneurship. Moreover, you must deal with the fear of making decisions. Of course, there is always the possibility to make the wrong choice but that shouldn’t scare you. In fact, it should inspire you and make you bolder.

The most common mistakes entrepreneurs make

Take the number of businesses in the world and multiply it by a million. The number you get is the number of possible business mistakes you can make throughout your entrepreneurial journey.

Nevertheless, there are several small business mistakes that almost every entrepreneur has made. Play it smart and learn how to avoid the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make before committing them.

Not having professionally drafted contracts

When I started running my business, I undertook various projects after a verbal go-ahead – one of the biggest business mistakes I could’ve made if you ask me. I would execute my design and branding work and send off my designs to the clients. When it came to paying my invoice, some clients did not pay! 

Once they had the work they needed, they did not respond to my demand for payment. They even ignored my emails and calls. I quickly learned to have a professionally drafted contract in place and ask for a 50% payment upfront and the 50% balance before handing over my files and artwork. These agreements need to be in place to avoid nasty surprises.

Vaishali Shah, Owner of Creative-ID & Ananya Cards

Not having your own niche/path

I spent almost the first 4 years of my business agreeing to everything and marketing to everyone. Ultimately, I ended up taking on cakes that I didn’t like, didn’t charge appropriately for, and resented. However, I realized this was one of the worst and biggest business mistakes entrepreneurs make. 

Hence over the last 12-18 months, I have worked hard on finding my niche, the designs that really make me feel happy. The result has been I am now attracting my ideal clients who love my designs and am becoming known for my particular style. I suppose it was a right of passage but I wish I had found my niche sooner.

Debbie Gillespie, Owner of Debbie Gillespie Cake Design

Not seeking professional employment advice

In the early days of business, I hired my first member of the team and failed to consider looking into the necessary paperwork and contract in order to protect myself and my business if in the future I needed to make any changes to their position in the company. 

Having learned the hard way that this was not ideal and caused much stress, I’d say of all the small business mistakes I’ve made this is one of the worst.

But the outcome is now I am very vigilant when it comes to entering into partnerships or agreements with anyone and I always have the correct paperwork. If I am unclear in an area that I know needs a contract, I know to consult a legal expert to ask for guidance. 

Bernadette Chapman, Owner of Bernadette Chapman Consultancy

Doubting myself and my abilities

Over the years I have wasted far too much time double guessing myself, doubting my abilities, and comparing myself to other business owners. I would say this is mainly due to the significant rise we have seen over the past decade on social media where imposter syndrome really does sneak in. 

I have worked a lot on my mindset as a result and whilst I still have times where I wobble, I can now confidently tell myself. “I am good at what I do, I have nearly two decades of experience, a fantastic reputation, a leader in my field, and that I will no longer allow others to make me doubt myself”.

Bernadette Chapman

Not being a good communicator

I am a self-confessed control freak, so it has taken me a while to learn that I cannot do it all, I need to delegate in my business in order to grow. But with delegation comes the need to be able to communicate with those you are delegating to, what you expect, what you need doing, and when you need it done.

So I found for a while that the tasks being completed by those I was delegating to were not being completed in a way I had hoped. After a bit of reflection and looking back at situations, I can see it wasn’t necessarily anyone’s fault, it was more the fact I hadn’t communicated exactly what my expectations were. 

I am excellent at communicating with my clients but when it came to communicating with my team, I noticed the ‘niggles’ were actually due to my inability to accurately communicate. 

Having worked on this with a consultant, I can see that actually, the fear of not being in control was affecting my communication skills! If you need to communicate tasks with your team members, make sure you really are asking them what you truly are expecting in return!

Nicola Russill-Roy, Founder of Propose PR

Not getting a mentor as soon as I can

Most start-up business owners underestimate the importance of business mentors. Like me before, I didn’t see the value of someone guiding me or telling me what to do. I became too dependent on business courses, books, and a few entrepreneur friends assuming I got it all under control until I realized I didn’t.

Business mentors serve as another pair of eyes that looks after you and your business. They offer invaluable skills, wisdom, and experience that no secondary or tertiary sources could provide. They could identify pain points and suggest solutions that only seasoned business owners can navigate.

You can get endless benefits in getting a mentor, but one must be teachable and humble enough to admit that you need help and guidance. Once you do, they will be your vessels to success!

Ewen Finser, CEO of The Digital Merchant 

Micromanaging teams

As an entrepreneur, your company is frequently referred to as your baby. It’s difficult to relinquish control when the time comes to recruit a team since you’ve spent so much time and money on it. 

This can lead to entrepreneurs micromanaging their staff or attempting to keep too much control. Both are difficult to break and considered poor leadership qualities. Because you’re so invested in the company, you still have a lot of issues to deal with. You’re also the one who sets the tone and establishes a culture since anything you do will be followed by others.

Therefore, when it comes to recruiting people, I adopt a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, I hire individuals who can take over my monotonous duties, which I can easily delegate and oversee, and on the other hand, I attempt to hire people who have the expertise and experience to assist me in areas where I am weak.

This gives me more time to focus on the vital things while still providing me with the knowledge I need to build the firm.

Gerrid Smith, Founder of Corporate Investigation Consulting 

Taking funding out of desperation

Don’t take funding out of desperation. The best time to find investors is when you don’t need it. If you’re desperate you are much more likely to take a bad deal and sign with partners who aren’t a good fit. It is critical that you take the time to vet investors and find one that shares your vision and values. A bad investor can ruin a good company.

Ben Hodson, Co-founder, and CEO of JobNimbus

Lack of long term planning

Another one of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is not building a business with the next owner in mind.  This oversight and lack of long-term planning leave them with an asset that has little to no value after their retirement.

Basic planning is almost free to create and just takes some time and planning. Things like written agreements with key stakeholders can be very low-cost to create and can help clarify each important relationship.  Making sure none of the relationships are dependent solely on the business owner is also a big part of making the business saleable in the future. 

This can involve working with customers as a team rather than one on one. An organized and clean set of tax returns along with professionally prepared financial statements will also be needed to properly value the business and make it saleable in the future.

David Jacobs, Business Broker with David Jacobs Business Broker 

Failing to conduct adequate research

Typical mistakes business owners make are failing to conduct adequate research about the industry in which they operate. Not conducting sufficient research to determine the viability of the business’s location and the company itself is detrimental.

Numerous start-ups fail to conduct adequate market research, and much more than that fail to survive. Market research can provide critical information on a product’s demand and pricing.

Emma Williams, Chief Research Officer at HIGH5

Thinking your product is so good it’ll sell itself

One of the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make is thinking a physical shop is the best way to start. We did that. Our organic spice company started as a store in a high-traffic area. We quickly learned that high traffic doesn’t instantly equate to people walking in and shopping and that the location is not good for our business. Hence, we closed the store after 2 years.

We needed to start smaller, take time to understand the market, and prove why our spices were superior. We shifted to farmer’s markets to talk to people about spices and cooking. We listened, learned, and then went 100% into online sales, which has proven to be very lucrative.

We get local requests to open a store, but knowing the industry now, we won’t do that. Instead, we made a custom spice vending machine to sit outside our factory so we offer in-person shopping (without expensive overhead) while we run our online operation at the same time.

Meaghan Thomas, Co-Owner and President at Pinch Spice Market  

Underestimating how long a task will take

The biggest mistake I’ve made is underestimating how long a task will take, and then bringing that estimation to the team. It’s often said that everything will take twice as long and cost twice as much as you expect it to. Turns out, that’s right. 

So when it comes to managing expectations and the motivation of your team, you never want to promise something you can’t guarantee. For example, don’t promise a reward on X date when a task is completed. 

Instead, promise a reward when the task is completed, as long as it’s done before X date + X date. In other words, double your timeline and don’t promise your people things you can’t guarantee.

Alex Lefkowitz, Founder of Tasty Edits

Not creating a brand from the start and merely setting up a business

I believe there is a big difference between ‘creating a brand’ and ‘setting up a business’ – the latter is what I did initially and saw me attracting the wrong client. 

When I set up I merely set up a blog, a company name, and documented my floristry work. I didn’t give too much thought to a brand, a sustainable business model or narrow down exactly who my ideal client was. As a result, early on I was attracting the wrong sort of clients. 

I re-branded a couple of years later and this is when my business truly elevated and I now get work from my dream ideal clients and I am getting the recognition I know I deserve and that I had hoped to achieve.

My lesson learned is to not rush into setting up a business, it’s not just about coming up with a cool business name, throwing up a website and randomly posting content, and hoping for the best.

Emma Soulsby, Owner of Emma Soulsby Flowers

Conclusion

There’ll always be mistakes entrepreneurs make and that’s not the end of the world. What matters is to recognize these business mistakes and minimize damage. Furthermore, small business mistakes are crucial to developing important leadership skills that will later help you upscale your business.

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