You work hard to make your business a success; to find customers and keep them coming back for more; to develop new products or services.
But maybe, for all this hard work, things are not progressing and you are not having the impact or making the income you know you deserve.
Why?
There can be any number of reasons, but in the years I have been working with micro and side-hustle business owners, I have identified the big six mistakes that can seriously influence your ability to grow and succeed – that stop you moving seamlessly from passion through to profit
The 6 Big Mistakes You Can Make in Your Micro or Side-Hustle Business
So, I’m going to cover THE BIG SIX, but I’m also going to ask you a number of questions – questions you should be asking yourself about your business regularly so that you can stop making the same mistakes again and again.
Mistake #1: Not Eliminating Assumptions
Nothing beats evidence for giving a small business a base-line from where to make informed decisions. Yet, many business owners make really important decisions every day based on assumptions.
They assume they know who their customers are; they assume they know what their customers want; they assume they have got the answer to their customers wants and needs; they assume they know what their customers will pay for a product or service and set their prices accordingly; they assume they know which marketing channels their customers will respond to.
The list goes on and on.
Question 1: Have you made any assumptions in/about your business?
Question 2: What are you going to do to turn your assumptions into hard evidence?
Mistake #2: Not Reflecting on Success and Failure
Why did that thing you did work? Why did you succeed, what did you do, how did you do it, can you replicate it?
Knowing why something worked is key to making it work again the next time.
However, it’s my belief that failure is even more valuable.
Reflecting on, and analysing failure, will tell you a lot about yourself. It will really teach you about what not to do next time. You should also be asking similar questions to those about success – why did it fail, did the whole thing fail or just part of it, what can you do to make it work next time?
Question 3: What was has been your biggest business success to date, and why?
Question 4: What was has been your biggest business failure to date, and why?
Mistake #3: Not Recording Your Thoughts, Ideas and Reflections
Having a gut feeling or instinct is useful, but having somewhere you can go to record your reflections is far more valuable.
The method of recording is up to you. If you are a pen and paper person have a Thoughts, Ideas and Reflections book (I often describe this as a Eureka book); but you can just as easily use an App like Evernote.
It’s the ability to revisit these reflections that will help you not make the same mistake again, and never lose a good idea.
Question 5: Do you currently record your reflections?
Question 6: If you do record your reflections, what method do you use?
Mistake #4: Not Planning
For me, this is the biggest of the big ones!
Let’s get this straight; planning is not an option, it’s an absolutely fundamental business activity. Planning is not time-consuming and it does not take you away from your customers. As a business owner, it’s your job.
If you are not planning and reviewing your plans on a regular basis you are more than likely losing business.
Question 7: Do you have a Business Plan?
Question 8: Do you review your Business Plan regularly?
Mistake #5: Not Taking Action
So planning is fundamental, but a plan that is then put it in a drawer and forgotten about is useless. Why bother to plan if you are not going to act on it.
Your plan is your road map to action and decision making.
Once you have your big, business or strategic plan it is much easier to create smaller, every day, action plans.
Question 9: Have you ever created a plan and then filed it away in a drawer?
Question 10: Do you use your Business Plan to create smaller, every day action plans?
Mistake #6: Not Achieving
Turning your Business plan into smaller action plans is a way of creating achievable daily ‘To Do’ lists for yourself.
If you ever start work in the morning without a clearly defined, achievable list of activities you have to complete that day it is unlikely you are planning properly. If you are not planning properly you are more than likely losing business.
Question 11: Do you have a weekly / daily action plan?
Question 12: Do you achieve more than 90% of your action plan each week?
The 12 Questions That Will Help You Avoid the 6 Big Mistakes
So, just in case you missed them, here are the 12 questions you should be asking yourself to ensure your micro or side-hustle business doesn’t fall victim to one of those six big mistakes.
Question 1: Have you made any assumptions in/about your business?
Question 2: What are you going to do to turn your assumptions into hard evidence?
Question 3: What was has been your biggest business success to date, and why?
Question 4: What was has been your biggest business failure to date, and why?
Question 5: Do you currently record your reflections?
Question 6: If you do record your reflections, what method do you use?
Question 7: Do you have a Business Plan?
Question 8: Do you review your Business Plan regularly?
Question 9: Have you ever created a plan and then filed it away in a drawer?
Question 10: Do you use your Business Plan to create smaller, every day action plans?
Question 11: Do you have a weekly/daily action plan?
Question 12: Do you achieve more than 90% of your action plan each week?
If you answered ‘No’ to any of the 12 questions; if you don’t know how to answer any of the 12 questions; if you don’t have, or don’t know how to write, a Business Plan, create an achievable action plan or even find out more about your customers – book a BREAKTHROUGH SESSION, because I can help.