Enjoying success in business is hard work! You need to focus and maintain discipline, you need to be a good leader for your team, you need to set goals, develop a plan to achieve them, and then follow the plan. There will sometimes be temptations to take the easy way out and abandon the plan for something else. These four big mistakes that any business owner can make can cost you your business and your happiness. They are all choosing the path of least resistance and they are all cowardly.
If you want to remain strong, happy and successful, you MUST avoid these four mistakes.
Avoidance
The best way to tackle your challenges is to meet them head on. Trying to avoid them might buy you some time, but the challenge will still be there later, it still won’t be handled, and you may now be late on delivering to a customer. Worse than that, every time you try to avoid your responsibilities, you’ll feel worse about yourself, which causes stress and unhappiness.
Stop avoiding things! Take things on in a timely fashion and get them off your plate so you can work on the next thing.
Inaction
Along the same lines as avoidance, inaction can also kill your business. When a crisis arises, there are three natural responses: fight, flight, or freeze. These were critical responses thousands of years ago when humanity might come face-to-face with a lion in the wild, but in the modern world they can lead to foolish choices that are way out of proportion to the actual crisis level.
Avoidance is giving in to the “flight” response; inaction on the other hand is the “freeze” response. In business, when faced with a crisis, you need to deal with it. Running away or freezing and doing nothing can only make things worse. Without exception, taking action is a better option than taking no action, even if the action you take ends up being the wrong one. We learn by making mistakes; we learn nothing when we do nothing. When you start to feel the fight, flight, or freeze response, you need to train yourself to take action—to fight! This is the only way to move forward and resolve your challenges.
Blame
When Harry S Truman was the President of the United States, he had a plaque on his desk that said “The Buck Stops Here.” In his administration, he accepted the fact that he was ultimately responsible for everything that happened. He did not “pass the buck.”
The same thing applies to running a business. At the end of the day, the owner is responsible for what happens in the company and must accept that responsibility. Blaming others for mistakes and failures in your business only hurts your staff, your clients, and your reputation. When something doesn’t go according to plan, YOU must accept the responsibility and take the lead in ensuring that things are corrected to everyone’s satisfaction. By owning your responsibilities you help to build confidence in your leadership.
Succumbing to Fatigue
Exhaustion can kill your business faster than just about anything else. Studies have shown that fatigue can cause reduced decision making ability, reduced ability to do complex planning, reduced communication skills, reduced productivity or performance, loss of memory or the ability to recall details, and many other problems that all hurt your ability to do your job.
It is important for you to remain alert and clear-headed when managing your business or sooner or later you will start making mistakes that cost you time and money. make sure you get at least 7-9 hours of sleep every night, that you get regular exercise to maintain good health, and that you eat properly so you have enough fuel to be at your best!
Be Brave!
When you choose avoidance, inaction, blaming others, or succumbing to fatigue, you are victimizing yourself and your business. This will lead to your business failing, sooner or later. Instead, choose to be brave! Choose to act! Accept responsibility! Stay rested and ready to for anything! If you can do that, you will have set yourself up for success, you can take pride in your accomplishments, and you’ll be happier as a result.
If you feel you are ready to make some positive changes to your business model to get the most out of your company and your life, contact TMH Business Coaching today for a confidential, free, no obligation consultation to propel you forward. Also, please feel free to add yourself to our weekly coaching tips email!
