The daily challenges of being a business owner are heightened by the fact that there is no manual on what exactly you should and should not be doing. Throughout our journey working with business owners and being ones ourselves, we have witnessed a few patterns on what not to do as the leader of your business. Granted, there are way more than 3 mistakes you should avoid as a business owner, but these ones are the largest and most often ignored.

As the owner of your business you are the leader, and whether you realize it or not, your employees and customers will be looking at you to be that leader. What ends up happening is business owners get caught up in the day-to-day minutiae that they miss out on seeing the bigger picture. Trust us, we are guilty of this as well. It is important as the owner to set goals for your company and plan tangible steps to get there. If you have a general plan set in place, it helps ensure that your company does not stray too far off from that plan. With the natural ups and downs of business, your plan will be your anchor. This may look different for each business and industry. For our company, we realized we need to do this more often so after our big planning session at the start of the year, we will be checking in at the end of each quarter to note our progress and to make any necessary adjustments. Whatever the time frame, if its weekly check-ins, or bi-yearly, pick a time to plan.

The biggest fault business owners have is not listening to others. Your business is your baby, so you know what’s best for it, right? As that may be partially true, no one knows your business like you do, however, a fresh perspective can offer a lot of help. When companies hire us to help with their marketing, we come in with fresh eyes. It becomes evident where the gaps are and what needs improvement. It is our job to note these things so what we create either helps fill those gaps or piggybacks on what is working. It becomes challenging, however, when a business owner will not listen to anything we suggest, it makes our job more difficult and ultimately exacerbates the issue at hand. Of course, use your best judgment and stick to what you know is best, all we recommend is if you are hiring people to help you, give them a chance because they may be seeing something that you are not. Be open to new ideas and ways of doing things and try to avoid the phrase, “This is the way we have always been doing it”.

Our last piece of advice relates to listening to fresh perspectives. One way to keep an open mind is to not get too hung up on one idea. Many business owners become obsessed with an idea and tune everything else out, what is commonly called tunnel vision. As this may work for some industries, it usually hurts most businesses. There is a difference between blind passion and an educated perspective. If everyone around you is telling you this idea is not what is best for the company, they are probably right. If you find yourself having this issue more than you would like, take a moment to step out of your normal routine, refer back to your plan (see above) and get an understanding of where your idea took a wrong turn.

Remember, you are not perfect, and that is what makes owning a business so much fun. If you have the privilege of being a leader, make sure you are a great one. Work on these suggestions and you will notice a change in your employees, customers, and ultimately yourself as a business owner.

If you have more questions on our experience as business owners, feel free to reach out! We always love to chat!