Common Mistakes Businessmen Make That Nobody Talks About

Tuesday, March 17, 2020, 6:00 AM | Leave Comment

It is true that when you have a vision to become a business owner and you are ready and willing to work towards it, you eventually will achieve your vision.

However, you have to understand that not anyone can be a business owner. It takes a certain kind of personality, a dreamer, a leader, a “go-getter” in other words, to be able to overcome the challenges that all business owners face along the way.

They need to build that thick skin that allows them to remain laser-focused amid the noise of the world around them.

Another essential characteristic that a businessperson should have is stubbornness. This is what keeps a potential business person trying time after the other even when the odds seem to be against them.

Although an indispensable trait, it can sometimes become a little annoying for the people they are surrounded by. It makes it that much harder for them to admit when they have made mistakes. It is part of the business persona, to always stand by their actions.

True this comes in handy in many situations, however, for educational purposes, these mistakes need to be discussed.

So, let us look at some examples of common mistakes businessmen do that nobody talks about.

Doing Everything by Themselves

Most businessmen learn this lesson the hard way. It is commonly believed that starting as a businessman, it somehow means that you have to be a jack of all trades. You need to know about strategy, finance, operations, and every other business function under the sun.

While businessmen are supposed to have an idea about all of the above, they need to be able to appoint experts to handle functions that are out of their scope. Actually, once a businessman realizes when to step aside and let their trusted team do their jobs, it is a sign of growth and maturity.

Ignoring Collaborations

Building on the above point, most businessmen tend to ignore essential collaborations with others who work in the same or relevant industry as theirs. It comes from the belief that especially in the beginning, everyone out there is a competition and therefore “an enemy”. In today’s digital world, this means missing important chances where implementing a backlink strategy is essential for building traffic for a company’s website.

Imagine hooking the link to your website on a blog posted on one of the renowned business magazines. Just by putting their contact list to use and reaching out to discuss a potential business opportunity, businessmen could take their businesses on a faster route to success.

Rash Decision-Making

This is one of the most common mistakes businessmen fall victim to. People who run their own businesses usually spend all of their waking hours contemplating the tons of decisions they have to make. Their minds are used to being “on-the-go” all the time.

While intuitive acting is an undeniable asset that makes this method work just fine, lots of other times businessmen end up taking rash decisions that they wouldn’t have taken had they given it more thought. The way they see it, is that they need to keep pushing forward no matter what. Unfortunately, though, sometimes such mistakes can come at hefty prices that they cannot afford.

Setting Unrealistic Goals

A businessman who is not ambitious will never make it. On the other end of the spectrum, a businessman who has their head in the clouds far away from reality, will also never make it. Many businessmen make the mistake of setting themselves up for failure by setting unrealistic goals for their teams and companies. These stretched goals can be destructive to a business.

Like miscalculated budgets or overestimated sales targets, such errors can cost the business a lot. This is why business owners need to have a board of trustees who can intervene when they seem to be wrongfully shooting for the stars.

Stop Learning

The most seasoned businessmen in the world, no matter how long they have been in the business world, they will admit that if one day they think they know enough, it will be the day of their demise. There is a thin line there that some businessmen fail to see between needing to be the ones with answers and knowing when to just listen. This problem far more persisted with the older generations when the millennials started to take over the business scene.

It was a matter of ego; older businessmen were having trouble accepting the fact that they might just learn something from the younger generations. This has caused many professionals to fall way behind as they got stuck in their old ways.

Believing That It Is Not Personal, It Is Business

This quote remains to be one of the most famous ones that people hear almost daily in the business world. It also happens to be one of the most inaccurate business quotes that businessmen recklessly repeat. The worst mistake businessmen can make is forgetting that their teams are made up of people.

Cold-bloodedly firing an employee for a mistake without taking the time to sit with them to gain a full perspective is not a “business decision”, it affects this employee’s personal life and wellbeing. Adopting a management style that ignores the human-element when managing subordinates is a common mistake many businessmen make and will usually blame it on “business needs”.

Averting Risk

Business owners usually tell stories of how building up their businesses took blood, sweat, and tears. So that once they become successful, many make the mistake of getting into the defense-mode and averting risk at all costs.

Although understandable, but, being brave enough to take risks is what keeps companies growing. It is an integral part of running a business. Of course, this is about taking calculated risks that do not fall under rash-decision-making.

Overworking

This is perhaps the most common mistake businessmen commit. Especially that it takes a long time before businessmen realize that they have been overworking themselves over the years. This usually comes at the expense of their health and their personal lives. That is why the number one advice renowned businessmen give to the younger ones is to work smarter and not harder and make time for things that are important in life like health and family.

Being a business owner is very tough in the highly competitive world of today. There are many obstacles that businessmen have to overcome just to stay in the game. Making mistakes throughout is only natural; however, it is important to shed light on them for others to gain valuable experience from these business gurus.

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