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No one ever said that starting and managing a business is easy. Your mind is likely running a mile a minute with countless tasks you need to complete. As such, many of us can understand why it’s easy to make a simple mistake that can have serious or time-consuming consequences. To escape crashing into that brick wall down the line, here are simple business mistakes you should avoid.
Lack of Market Research
You don’t want to invest thousands of dollars into your business only to find that there is no market available for your product. It is important to remember that even if you are passionate about your content and believe it will be successful, things can take a swift left turn when you cut that ribbon. That is why you must do proper and extensive market research on your business and product before seriously proceeding further. Consider having a test run where you invite locals to try your products; this will help you gauge potential interest and value in your business.
Disregarding Target Audience
There are countless times when we see businesses, both big and small, disregarding their target audience. This simple mistake occurs when businesses believe they know what is best for the evolution of their products, which you should avoid. When you disregard the opinions of your target audience, you could lose your customers as they might abandon their brand loyalty in favor of products that fit their growing needs.
Unprotected Consumer Information
A huge mistake that businesses make is leaving their consumer information unprotected. You might not know this, but the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) protects consumer information and will run extensive reports on companies, suing or taxing them if they break the law. That is why you must take extra care to protect consumer information, even when you dispose of it.
To do this in a way that abides by FTC rules, it is a good idea to outsource your disposal to a destruction company. You want to do this because these companies know how to dispose of this important information properly. Moreover, they will provide you with a certificate of destruction, which is extremely handy to have during an audit.
Fear of Failure
If you were to interview a thousand business owners, they would all tell you that they failed countless times before finding success. The truth of the matter is that we will fail and make mistakes at some point when running a business. However, through those failures, you expand, grow, and learn how to get back up and try again. The fear of this failure can and will keep you from achieving your dreams, so try to look at it as a lesson and stepping-stone to success.
Zero Online Presence
At this point, if your business has little to no online presence, you are likely missing out on numerous consumers who would be happy to purchase your products. The problem is they just don’t know you exist. To put this into perspective, mostly everyone will Google an enterprise to learn more about it, from its products and mission to the quality of service.
If the company has no reviews, website, or social media presence, you will pass it over and go for one that looks more established. As such, start growing your business online as soon as possible, and if you can, before you even break ground.