Do you think you're a savvy business owner? A recent survey carried out by Volkswagen Caddy highlights the main mistakes small business owners like electricians and plumbers have made and then later regretted.
Business mistakes are not heard about very often, after all no ones wants to be reminded how easy it can be to make mistakes so therefore we only hear about the bigger success stories. It is little wonder then that many also try to follow the 'spotlight' and end up disappointed. Running a business is by no means a simple task.
Of course, the key lesson to learn from making a mistake is how to avoid making the same mistake twice. The list features many commonly made business mistakes, many which could be easily repeated by other unsuspecting business owners.
My Local Electrician is pleased to publish the findings of this report which was recently carried out by interviewing 1,000 small and medium sized business owners to produce a report entitled 'However Big Your Ambition'
Coming in at number 1 of the 15 biggest business mistakes is Hiring Someone Who Wasn't Right For the job. One of the most important assets a business has are its staff and investing in the right staff for your business will pay dividends in the longer term. A motivated and happy workforce is easily detected by customers and this quickly builds a perception of company image and reputation.
It seems we are a nation of business owners who allow our hearts to rule our heads this is according to 35% of survey respondents. This highlights the need to run a business in a business like manner. Top mistakes made in this category include hiring a friend to work, offering too much discount on products and services and not taking advantage of an opportunity.
In light of the survey results, business owners are being urged to think higher quality rather than lower price when it comes to making the deal in order to obtain better paid work and are being discouraged to avoid short term fixes on businesses and instead consider long term business investment.
The However Big your Ambition Report conjures up images of steadfast businesspeople who are full of encouragement to other business owners however this is quite far from the truth in reality. The survey results described business owners as 'Ambitious Risk Takers' which sounds quite encouraging, however the report also says that 72% of business owners feel less optimistic about the outlook for 2013 than they did about 2012 with 93% of respondents not expecting to achieve their annual financial targets with just 19% saying that their business is busy.
The top 15 business mistakes are:
1. Hiring someone who wasn’t right for the job
2. Making a pricing error
3. Not taking advantage of an opportunity
4. Giving too much discount on something
5. Taking a friend on to work for you
6. Taking a relative on to work for you
7. Firing someone
8. Trusting someone/a business partner that didn’t work out
9. Investing in equipment which didn’t work
10. Ignoring good advice
11. Allowing a junior more responsibility than they could handle
12. Acting on bad advice
13. Declining a pay rise which meant a good member of staff left
14. Giving someone a pay rise and regretting it
15. Investing in another business which didn’t work
You can read the official press release for Volkswagen here: http://www.newspress.co.uk/public/ViewPressRelease.aspx?pr=42792&pr_ref=...