The Most Common Issues That Slow Down Business Growth

If you want to grow your business, you’re going to have to identify a few problems first of all. Mainly, what could hold you back from achieving your goals across the next year, thanks to just how unsustainable these practices can be. 

If you're suddenly panicking about the problems that could crop up within your organization, let us be the first to put your mind at rest. Every single company has their issues that need smoothing out at some point - this is just your turn! 

So, if you want to grow your company over the next 12 months, you’re going to need to look inward and figure out where you could be going wrong. The more you know about the way your company works right now, you’re less likely to need to run damage control later on. 

No Insight into Your Operations

If you don’t even know the way your company works, this is the first thing to work on. And don’t feel bad if you don’t; it can be quite hard to figure out the day to day when you’re only working in a supervisory position. 

But you're going to need to see how things work right now, and how things can be improved in the near future, that’ll make cross location (and even cross country) expansion even easier. 

So look into software solutions that’ll help you envision a new way of working without needing to do much else. If you’re in the manufacturing industry, you can use a factory modeling program to test out different conditions and how they could be better for you. 

A Lack of Proper Safety Training

Safety risks are in every kind of workplace. If it’s been a few years since you last had a safety inspection, or it’s been a good few months since you last ran a fire drill, these are the processes you’ll need to be sure of before anything else. 

If your employees have no idea where to go in case of a fire, or just stand there without knowing anything about what to do next, you could be in trouble when it comes to further coordination. 

Safety training is also some of the easiest training programs you can put in place. It really won’t be hard to find a provider or come up with the cash to pay for it. 

Poor Cash Flow Management

When you look at a profit and loss sheet, do you only see the greens? Small businesses owners tend to wear tinted glasses when it comes to their incomings and outgoings. 

As such, you should also start looking at the reds too. Poor cash flow management can be easy to ignore, especially if you’re turning a profit on a day by day basis. But the better you can understand the stats, the easier it’s going to be to start planning your financial opportunities in the long term.

A small yet positive cash flow is the best thing to aim for; you don’t have to have a perfect top-heavy equation between your earnings and your costs, and never forget to factor in your tax obligations as well. This will provide you with a very healthy level to build on. 

No Research into Your Competitors

Who are you up against? If you want to move into bigger and better markets, you’re going to have quite a few competitors all looking to capitalize on the same customers. Make sure you’re aware of who these companies are before you make any moves. 

You need to know what your competitors are up to and what decisions are open to you. You can fill in the gaps they leave behind and even generate better ways to pull off their marketing decisions. You won’t be able to do any of this, however, if you have no idea what’s going on around you in the first place. 

No New Sales Leads

If you’re thinking of expanding, thanks to a very healthy interest from your current customer base, are you sure there are more customers out there to sell to? You’re going to need to be sure of these sales leads before you throw any money at your growth campaign. 

Thankfully, there are quite a few ways to find these sales leads and secure them ahead of time. Most small businesses don’t put in the effort until it's too late, but if you plan proactively, you won’t fall into the same trap. 

A Lack of a Diversified Skill Set

Who makes up your team right now? Maybe it’s just you; if you’re going to expand for the very first time, there’s a strong chance of this. 

You probably already know you don’t know everything, but you’re going to need to work with people who can fill in for the skills you don’t possess. Social media management, for example, or shift management if you plan to build an entire team. Hire management material before you do anything else and build out from there.

Low Long-Term Focus

You want to expand right now, but how much time and thought have you put into what comes next? Say you have a plan to open up another location; you’ve got eyes on the perfect premises and you’ve put together a budget, but what will you do once it’s all up and running? 

If there’s no long-term focus in your growth plan, you’re not going to get very far. That’s really the long and short of it. Make sure you’re thinking outside of your next 3 to 5 steps for a better chance of success. 

Slow business growth can be a pandemic in the small business world. You can avoid suffering from it by looking out for the issues above and putting efficient processes in place. There will always be the chance to grow, so don’t feel you’re going to miss out if you don’t try to expand right now. FOMO can be a killer in many industries, so keep an eye out for it! 

11 Ways Your Business Can be Destroyed

Your business can be destroyed in numerous ways, and some of them are pretty easy traps to fall into. Others can also take a long time to fix when they happen, and a lot of remedial work is required. However, most begin and end with company culture, ethics, and understanding of the industry. For example, poor customer service is one of the worst that customers hate. But even fighting between board members or co-owners can all but destroy a business from the inside.

A Poor Reputation

Reputation is everything in business, and it's a wonder how some companies survive, given their terrible reputation. However, these are mostly multi-billion dollar companies that can withstand losing some customers. As a smaller business, you may not be able to weather that storm. Beginning with the top, CEO reputation management services can help you get in front of any potential issues. And rebranding is a key strategy that works well after an incident happens.

Terrible Customer Service

Customer service is often overlooked. But it remains one of the key features of any reputable business. If you cannot afford to hire an expensive customer care team, outsourcing is always an option to avoid some of the key issues people have, which often include the following:

• Having to wait on hold for a long time for minor issues that can be fixed easily.

• Products are always unavailable or out of stock after being advertised.

• Poor attitudes from customer service employees who don't seem to care.

Most customers won't use a business again after a poor customer service experience. Just being on hold can cause a customer to leave your line and never return to your service again.

Your Business Can be Destroyed by Ego

Business leaders and CEOs can often seem unapproachable and out of reach of employees. But why should this be the case for them? They are employees of the company, just like anyone else. Working with all departments will help keep CEOs and executives in line with day-to-day operations. This is crucial for a business to work efficiently, yet one survey found that only 66% of business leaders feel they are aligned with the rest of the company's employees. 

A Computer or Network Disaster

We live in an interconnected world today, with a strong reliance on technology, computers, and networks. Even the smallest business will use an IT system. Therefore, one of the worst things that can happen to your business is an IT disaster. This can occur from power cuts, employee mistakes, and, of course, cyber threats. Having a good backup system in place can help. Employee training on new systems and outsourcing IT to a managed service are optimal.

Not Marketing Your Brand Well

With so much competition these days, marketing has never been as crucial as it is today. This is mainly because smaller businesses or even sole traders can become a threat. The prevalent nature of digital assets, AI, and social media are a massive help to any modern business. So you must keep up with the competition via a marketing strategy. At the least, this should include a solid SEO, PPC, and social media campaign that includes high customer engagement.

Poor Understanding of the Competition

One of the biggest threats to any company is its competition. And no matter your sector, industry, or niche, there is always competition. Misunderstanding this can be disastrous. However, it is fairly simple to get a foothold on yours and begin making a plan of action:

• Speak to your and their customers and compare what they say about each brand.

• Talk to suppliers to see if they can offer competitive deals on steady items.

• Arrange discussions with your competition about the state of your sector.

• Make time to attend industry trade shows and conferences in your sector.

• Use available online tools to research your competition and how they work.

• Set up similar social media and online campaigns to attract a market share.

• Pay close attention to the people your competitors hire in key positions.

A crucial step that is often overlooked is simply speaking to customers. This can be done in numerous ways, such as surveys, online polls, and just asking when they are in-store. However, it also doesn't hurt to watch the competition closely and realign your business in a similar way.

Not Innovating Enough

One of the key factors in keeping a business alive and profitable is innovation. If you don't innovate, you can bet everything you own that the competition will. And you risk becoming irrelevant and obsolete when this happens. Just look at what happened to Blockbuster after refusing a deal with Netflix. There are always changes, no matter the sector. Innovation covers technological changes, changing customer attitudes, and coming up with new ideas.

Poor Supplier Diversity

Not being able to source materials or products from a supplier can be a nightmare. Supply chain issues are largely unpredictable for most sectors and can happen at any time. But customers don't care about this. All they want is their favorite products. Of course, you don't have any control over this either. However, you can offset losses and retain customers by sourcing from different suppliers. You may not have the same products, but alternatives can help customers.

Your Business Can be Destroyed by Employees

Hiring the wrong people can become a costly mistake. When it comes to money alone, a bad hire can cost you up to three times more than the initial salary to replace. A small business can struggle with this kind of financial problem. But things can also get much worse. Using unqualified or inexperienced staff can cause issues other than financial.

For example, an employee can cause serious injury to someone else while using unfamiliar equipment, and if that’s the case, they might need to get some help from a website like this where you can find expert legal help for any issue that might arise. As a business owner, it’s wise to have this kind of help on hand, just in case something goes wrong and you can ensure everyone and everything is covered.

Board and Co-Owner In-Fighting

Boardroom brawls are uncommon, thankfully. But they do happen, and unrest at the top level can filter down to the rest of the company and cause serious problems. Of course, your opinions may differ, but it always helps to nip board arguments in the bud before they get worse:

• Don't take issues at the board level personally, as all are interested in the company.

• Remember, it doesn't matter who was right or wrong; it's just what to do moving on.

• Always try to unravel an argument as soon as is humanly possible to avoid issues.

Board and co-owner harmony results in a smoother operation and increased profits. Placing blame often gets you nowhere, and running a company is a shared responsibility. Always try to work together to come to agreements about how the business needs to be run moving on.

Setting Hard-to-Reach Goals

Goals are vital in business as they provide direction. A business plan should contain your goals and how to get there. Remember, a goal without a plan is simply a dream. However, it's also best to remember that goals must be achievable. Making goals that are too hard to reach only causes stress from the top level down. As an owner or manager, you will become stressed by not reaching goals. And your employees will feel the pressure of having to work towards them.

Summary

Creating a great reputation for your company is a great start, or your business can be destroyed in the court of public opinion. Rebranding and CEO management are a good start. However, you can also face business issues if you don't research the competition, which you are always going to have. Goals are also vital, no matter your sector. Without clearly defined and achievable goals, a business can begin to buckle under the stress from the top level down.

A short guide to setting up your own business

Making the decision to leave a stable position of employment and set up your own business is an exciting time for any would-be entrepreneur. Becoming self-employed gives you a huge amount of freedom: you can work to your own rules and working practices and organize exactly when and for whom you work. On top of all this, you can dedicate yourself to a business that you are truly passionate about and are consequently willing to put in 100% to make sure that you are successful. However, setting up your own business can also become exceedingly stressful and could prove to be a disaster if not thoroughly planned. Considering these points, read on for a short guide to setting up your own business.

1.   Education

You might have all the necessary expertise needed to create and carry out the products and services your business will offer, but product knowledge alone is not enough to ensure that your endeavor is successful. You will need a strong foundation of business practice knowledge that you can take into your own business practices. If you do not come from a business background, you could consider taking some online business courses. These online business courses will provide you with the essential skills required in areas that are much used when setting up a business, for example, bookkeeping, grant writing, and project management.

2.   Write a business plan

Writing a business plan is an essential task that should be undertaken when setting up any business and reviewed and updated every couple of years to reflect your current circumstances. There are plenty of guides available showing you how to write an effective business plan, but there are several points that you should always look to include. An analysis of the market which you are entering, for example, along with a detailed description of your business’s unique selling point, to clearly demonstrate how you will fit into that market.

3.   Secure financing

Setting up your own business is an undeniably expensive endeavor, and as such, you will need to make sure that you have secured financial backing. There are several federal loans you can apply for, such as the Small Business Administration Loan, to help you to set up your business. Alternatively, you could approach a bank for a loan, but make sure that you are able to pay your loan off and do not put your house as collateral, in order to prevent a disaster from occurring if your business does not prove to be successful.

4.   Premises

During the early days of your business, when you are just starting to get off the ground, you might decide to work from your own home in order to reduce overheads from expensive rented offices. However, you might require some extra space in order to house supplies and products for shipping. If this is the case, you could consider renting a storage space from which you can store and package items away from your home.