Six mistakes to learn from in business

Learn from your mistakes in business

Do you make these costly mistakes in your business?

Are you struggling to attract more new customers to your business?

Do you have a great product or service, but don’t know how to let prospects know about you?

Do you see your competitors growing and wonder what they are doing to be so successful, even though you know their product or service isn’t nearly as good as yours?

Chances are you may be making some of the following mistakes in your business.

Thinking your product will sell itself

Many business owners believe that if they have a great product or service, business will automatically come to them. The reality is, you may offer the best product and great service. You may have amazing employees, the longest warranties and lots of awards. But that alone hasn’t brought you all the prospects you can handle…has it?

If you don’t actively promote your business, it will eventually dry up and fade away – no matter how good your product or service is.

Thinking your business is different

You very well may have distinctive aspects to your business, but essentially your business is no different from other businesses – whether it is manufacturing, service, wholesale, distribution or trading.

The product or service you provide may be different. But like all other businesses, you’re essentially in the business of marketing your product or service.

Marketing and sales should be the most important function in your business.

Not differentiating your business from your competitors

Do you tell your customers why they should use your services over your competitors? If you can’t say to your prospects anything other than ‘our pricing is competitive’, ‘our quality is good’ and ‘our services are reliable’, then you are just another ‘me too’ business. All your competitors are telling them the same thing.

Now, more than ever, it is imperative that you differentiate your business from your competitors. There are simply far too many choices for consumers. To command a strong position, you don’t have to be the best; you just have to be unique to the market. Any business can do that, even if your product is a commodity.

Believing that marketing is an expense

When things get tight, marketing is the first item that many business owners cut.

Marketing is the engine that drives your business. When things are tough, you should instead invest more time and money on marketing, even when your competitors are cutting back.

Marketing doesn’t necessarily entail big money. There are many low-cost or even no-cost marketing strategies that your business can use. Just don’t stop it!

Not marketing to your existing customers

It costs a business at least six times more to get a new customer than to sell to their existing customers. And yet many businesses choose to ignore their current customers.

You may have focused too much on the first sale when the real goldmine lies in the ‘back-end’ sales. What other things that are supplementary or complementary to the products your customer has bought? Can you continue to sell to them?

Not capturing your customers’ contact details

You spend so much money on acquiring your customers, but if you aren’t capturing their details you don’t know who they are, where they live and how to contact them.

Since they’ve bought from you, there is a high probability that they’ll come back to you if you communicate with them.

However, you can’t do that unless you’ve their contact information.

Do any of these mistakes sound familiar?

You can avoid making these costly mistakes in your business by changing your perspective on business.

A business essentially consists of three vital components: Distribution, Marketing and Systems. If you continue to run your business purely from the distribution aspect of your business, i.e. by having the best product or service, you’ll be in for a big disappointment.

On the other hand, when you re-engineer your business towards marketing and systems-centred activities, you’ll begin to experience a sustainable long-term growth in your business.

Start building a solid foundation for your marketing knowledge.

Lay your hands on any good marketing resource. It will go a long way in helping you to run your business in a fun and profitable way.

Rueben Taylor, business mentor and educator, businesswealtheducators.com.au