5 Unexpected Things that Could Be Holding Your Small Business Back

You want your business to grow, but for some reason it’s not. What could it be that’s keeping you from getting the sales you want, reaching the customers you would like to, and simply growing your small business?

There could be a number of reasons, but we want to explore some of the ones you might not have thought about. We all know that it often takes advertising to reach more clients and to help a business grow. We know that making better products is often a great way to expand your business as well, but what about those factors that aren’t talked about as much? Maybe some of them are hindering your growth.

1. A Lack of Sleep

If you’re not getting enough sleep, you’re going to have a hard time making intelligent decisions. In a small business, most of the decisions are made by one or two people. If one of them is not operating at peak capacity and is having trouble focusing, the right decisions won’t be made. When you are not getting adequate sleep, you may be easily confused and may suffer from poor judgment.

A lack of sleep can be just as dangerous as being drunk, especially when it comes to the world of business decisions. If you want to make good choices, you have to get your sleep schedule where it ought to be. Attempt to fall asleep at a specific, set time every night, keeping it the same from night to night, and then follow that up with a similar wakeup time for each and every morning. Also stay away from anything that will keep you awake during the night, like phone notifications and any other noises.

2. Being Too Busy with Other Things

If you are a small business owner, you probably spend most of your time with the business, but how are you spending the rest of your time? If you’re not getting a lot of time to work on organizing and growing your business, it may be difficult for your business to succeed. If you’re constantly distracted by house chores, parenting duties, social obligations, small errands, and a screen addiction, then you may not have much time for caring for your business.

You may need to find some ways to give these responsibilities to someone else, like a secretary, family member, or close friend. You could choose really good expert cleaners in Brooklyn to help with the house cleaning, and you could call in an adult friend or sibling to help with babysitting every so often. These are just a couple of suggestions, but you see what we are getting at. It’s important to have time for your business dealings and to be able to focus on your business like you ought to.

3. Poor Long Term Planning

Let’s talk specifically about business related issues. If you only have a short term plan in mind for your business, you may have trouble growing it. How can you move to the next level if all you’re thinking and planning is about the current level? How do you grow a lot when you’re not sure what you’re going to do with your business in the next six months or two years?

It’s great to have a plan for your day-to-day activities and for what you plan to do each week and each month. However, you need to add on to that with an annual plan and a five-year plan.

Any business expert will tell you that a five-year plan is essential to see a businessman grow exponentially. Many businesses fail because they don’t take into account the long term. They have no plan in mind for where they will be in a few years, so they end up year after year in the same place.

4. Failure to Take Risks

Many businesses never grow because the business owners never take any risks. They’re not willing to try new products, try new business strategies, or try to expand their business to new areas. They just do what they always have done, and that means they are going to get the same results they always have as well.

We want to encourage you to consider taking a few risks to help your business grow. We are not talking about major risks that have a very low chance of success, but rather we encourage you to look at some slightly risky strategies and consider whether they might be worth investing in.

It’s the risky business options that often pay off the most, which is why we encourage business owners to think about these kinds of strategies. If Netflix had remained a mailbox DVD service, they never would have taken off as the premier streaming service. What could your business become if you’re willing to change things up?

5. Your Employees Are Bad with Customers

No matter how personable and friendly you are with customers, you are probably not the only person in your business that comes into contact with customers. If you have more than a few employees under you, odds are good that your customers interact with them more than with you. So, if you’re employees are not very good at dealing with customers, your business will suffer.

Imagine the change that could happen if you train your employees so that they understand what it takes to be customer friendly. This is going to take some work, but the payoff can be incredible. Take the time to teach your employees or hire someone else to teach them, but make sure the focus is on caring for the customer and meeting the needs of the customer. Stress how important customer interactions are with your employees, and if you can get that across to them, you may be able to change your company and grow much faster.

These are just a few things you can do to change up how your company operates and to improve its chances for growth.