Seven Deadly Business Flaws A Shrewd Entrepreneur Should Know

If you are starting a business, here's a daunting but real statistic for you. About half of startup businesses will never reached noon in their operation. They die early before the sun could even rise on their businesses.

Looking closely at their fate, one could find at least some, if not all, of the seven deadly mistakes a startup business could make. It's good to know these business mistakes so that you will not share the same fate as to these potential-rich, brilliant businesses who failed to eliminate these seven deadly flaws.

Here are the seven deadly business flaws to avoid:

1. Choosing a location which is not frequented by your customers. One business cliché that will never die with age is "location, location, location." In business, location is EVERYTHING. Your chosen location alone could make or break your dream of standing with the giants when the clouds have disappeared. Don’t make a mistake of venturing somewhere your target customers need their schedule rewritten just to get to you. Guess what, they won’t bother. A bad location is the first recipe for business failure; therefore, locate your business where there's good vehicle, if not foot traffic.

2. Over confidence: going into battle when your ammunition (cash capital) is low. Even though everything looks good on paper, but be shrewd enough to be always on the safe side when it comes to arming your business with enough ready cash capital. Most often than not, your break-even timeline deviates from what is on your business plan. If this happens, you might need to resuscitate your business by injecting more funds to your infant business at least temporarily. If you're not prepared to dish out your own money for your business, at least know your options like bank loans or even an angel investor.

3. Extending too much credit or failing to see increasing accounts receivables on the book. Although you need customers, you also need cash. In fact, there's nothing an infant business needs most than ready cash on the coffers for unforeseen vital expenses. Know how to balance customer acquisition and accumulating accounts receivables on your book.

4. Undermining the existing as well as the new competitors in the market. Remember that your best move is determined by the moves of your competitors. If you are plotting for best course to follow and best business strategy to employ, your competitors are not exactly sitting on their hands idle also. Keep an eye on your competitors and be ready to employ tactics like pricing and promotion aside from constantly tweaking your product to deliver the demands of the time.

5. Banking on one successful promotion strategy for too long. Be dynamic in your business especially when it comes to promotion strategies. Never stop reinventing your means of reaching your target market because there's always some new player or old competitor ready to grab your customers away from you. And, whatever you do, never commit the mistake of leaving your customers to find your business or know your brand. The effort to educate customers that a product exist always rest on the business proprietor.

6. Going into business alone. Even if you think that you know your industry by heart, it’s always good to pass the ball in some business aspects in which you are not too sure you can handle well. Even if you know everything, but at some point during the day, you have to sleep; meaning, you cannot do everything alone. Hire someone you can trust, someone who you think can be your alter ego when it comes to making business decisions so that you can have time for yourself also. You need it.

7. Neglecting the people that put you in business to begin with: your customers, suppliers, and employees. Your customers are the reason you put up your business in the first place; you owe it to them to make them happy all the time. Customer service should be given utmost priority because at the end of the day, you'll not only get a loyal customer with good customer service, but you'll also gain a legion of people willing to spread a word about your business to other people as well.

Your suppliers, too, are the reason you're still in business. Make an effort to let them know that you appreciate their continued support. And, you could not neglect your employees. Your employees are the backbone of your business; remember that happy employees rake more money for the business than disgruntled ones.

Now that you know the seven deadly flaws that weaken a startup business, you can be confident that you're not going to share the fate of the unlucky 50% business startups. Knowledge is power; use your gained knowledge to see your business through longevity and success.