FIVE HABITS THAT ARE KILLING YOUR BUSINESS
Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude. Those are not my words. If those words were coming from me, perhaps, they wouldn’t have been as powerful. For your information, that quote was coined by one of the most successful salespeople. His name is Zig Ziglar. He’s my hero. And while Ziglar might no longer be among the living, his words are alive. He impacted many people’s lives. An overwhelming number of entrepreneurs attribute their success to him. He made many millionaires. Ziglar always taught against five habits that I will share with you in this article. Do you know that most people fail in business, not because they are bad at it, but because of certain specific habits that greatly hinder their success? Remember, habit is second to nature. And when the habits are destroying your business, there is a need for serious re-evaluation. So, stay put!
PROCRASTINATION
Procrastination is probably the biggest enemy of your business. Procrastination embarks from your mind. Therefore, you will need to stop letting your mind control you to defeat it. I like to see it as a disease of the mind. This condition requires treatment. It affects your business negatively and in many ways. Sadly, procrastination starts subtly. It starts small. And before you know it, it has already become hard-wired in you. You start procrastinating everything. You hit the snooze button when your alarm goes off instead of waking up. When you have a meeting with say clients, you want it rescheduled. Eventually, it becomes your nature and dramatically undermines the chances of your business success.
NOT SAYING NO WHEN YOU SHOULD
Many people are living in this captivity. They feel obliged to say yes to every request. They feel bad about disappointing people every time they say NO. Well, I’m here to tell you this. You are the most important person on earth. It would help if you believed that. And every time you say yes to something you shouldn’t, you are invalidating yourself. You are telling your subconscious mind that your opinion doesn’t matter. Even in business, saying yes to everything will effectively lead you to failure. Therefore, it is critically important for you to amass the courage to say NO when you should. Your business will thank you for doing this. And the earlier you train yourself this, the better for you and your business.
MIXING BUSINESS WITH FRIENDSHIP
Your office is your office. Not a place to gossip with your friends. Your friends should only visit your office if the agenda is business. Otherwise, they should wait for you. I know this sounds a bit unsettling but do you know that friends can frustrate your business? This is why you need to be honest with your friends. Good friends will understand. Look, let’s say you own a Salon business. Your friends like to come for gossip or stories every day. Before you know it, your clients realize your friends are gossipers. This effectively discourages them from coming to your salon (even if your services were good). Humans are naturally self-conscious, and your clients might feel uncomfortable having your friends gossip about others in their presence.
Also, when it comes to managing the business, your friends shouldn’t indulge in it simply because they are friends. You own the business. Not them. They happen to be your friend. That’s all. I hope you’re getting my point. Yes, friends are good, and boy, I have many. But my business is mine. Yes!
IGNORING FEEDBACK
Sometimes, humans think they know everything. We sometimes assume, and wrongly so, that we have all the answers. But that is incorrect. If you’re selling a product, for instance, and a customer makes a comment on the product, do you realize that you are getting a firsthand honest review? Unfortunately, most people don’t. They either ignore the word or do nothing about it. They forget that customers are more natural than some friends or even family. This is because customers have no reason to lie. But your friends do have a reason to lie. They are friends, and they want to please you. To make you happy, you know. They might not tell you about the lack of enough sugar in your tea (assuming you sell tea), but the customer will. That’s why it’s very vital that you take customer reviews seriously and then ensure you act on them.
UNNECESSARY LOANS
When you apply for a loan, you must plan to spend the funds and repay them. It’s normal for your business to need money. I understand there are lows and highs of business. But many people, due to greed or other reasons, end up taking loans even when the business doesn’t need them. Therefore, they end up using the money for personal expenses. But when it’s time to repay the loan, they expect the business to cater for it. The business might pay for the loan, but you might not realize how much damage you’re doing to it. The financial position of the business is messed up. Most businesses have failed because of this. The owner takes a loan using the business’s name but uses the funds for other personal expenditures. It doesn’t take long before the business suffers the consequences.
