10 Mistakes Unsuccessful Business People Make

Mistakes happen for a reason. But if your reasons are already hard to justify, and your reasons are already synonymous to unreasonable excuses, be warned. You need to become informed about the 10 possible mistakes unsuccessful business people make, so that you will not fail miserably as an entrepreneur and your business will not eat you alive.

1. Set your purpose straight by planning thoroughly. Yes, the plan matters a lot but your plans must be based on specific objectives, purpose, and feasible progress. Plan is not simply a written document about steps that you need to undertake. There should be a feasible business case before you embark on your business endeavor. The business case is about strategizing, concept execution, targeting markets, making close to accurate projections, and business benefits.

2. Proper vision is vital and critical and some entrepreneurs think otherwise. If your vision is blinded with illusion that you are successful whatever chances and circumstances you encounter, you will become a victim of your own success. Some fail to ignore the warnings because they are too focused in achieving their personal vision rather than sticking to company vision.

3. There is no clear-cut boundary between the company’s interests and personal interests. Business leaders must align their interests to the interests of the entire company. When a leader falls to the kind of thinking that the business company is actually an extension of himself, the company will be in trouble. This is seen in how company money is spent. Company funds are spent in lavishness and this practice can turn into a dangerous habit.

4. Business people who think that they know all the answers will definitely end up in pitfall. If they can only admit to themselves that not all the answers they know are the right answers. Learning from their subordinates and other members of the company will help them eliminate possible implications. It takes only a few seconds to make the wrong decisions.

5. Business people who confuse cash with profits end up losers. To better understand this idea, know that when you pay a company bill, you use cash or the money from your bank and not your profits which simply pertain to an accounting concept.

6. Unsuccessful business people are guilty of removing employees who don’t completely support them. This is a blatant act of ruthlessness and this is a serious cause for business disasters. When executives feel that they are not properly respected and treated, they perform poorly. Then, they choose to leave the company. As a result, new executives will find out that nobody dared to warn them about the destructive atmosphere of the company. With this kind of business environment, the business will automatically be shattered into pieces.

7. Being too obsessed with the company image is a crime and again, unsuccessful business people are found guilty as charged. They are very concerned about their public image. As a result, they perform based on public merits. So, even if they exert their management efforts, bad results still follow. High level of media attention is unnecessary. Rather, they should be devoted in serving their clients more rather than putting themselves in the spotlight.

8. They believe that strategies that have worked for them before will always work out in future business endeavors. Apparently, they are wrong. Clinging to fixed business model is unhealthy for the business. The business should be dynamic and be opened to accepting and executing innovations.

9. Unsuccessful business people are fond of underestimating barriers along the way. With this bad habit, the business is doomed. Huge losses can possibly be prevented if business people will be more prepared and equipped with correct ideas in facing business obstacles rather than underestimating or worse, ignoring the obstacles.

10.  Being afraid to commit mistakes is another trait of unsuccessful business people. The problem would be committing the same mistakes again and again or not learning from the mistakes others have made. It also goes without saying that a businessperson should be open-minded when being corrected for a mistake.

Ingvar Kamprad the founder of IKEA and who ranks fifth in the list of world’s richest people will dare to commit mistake but not to the extent of becoming unsuccessful. This is because when he feels that something isn’t right, he chooses to be corrected and move on rather than continue being proud.