Three Mistakes that Sneak Up on Business Owners:
Surely this list doesn’t concern you, but you might know of some other business owner who will be bitten by these mistakes…

1. Marketing Without a Real, ROI-Based Plan.
True marketing is an investment towards buying the best kind of customers, not an expense that hopefully will bring in some type of customer. Hoping is NOT a plan, it is folly. Get a plan, test it, adjust it, and follow it. Use it consistently and forget about hoping because with a serious marketing plan, a successful business owner will know what is actually earned from any marketing investment.

2. Not Defining Their Target Customers Exactly.
Without knowing who they are trying to reach with their marketing dollars, business owners literally waste their lives chasing the wrong customers in the wrong ways. Define the perfect customer, inside and out. Understand that customer better than they know themselves. This enables businesses to not only sell them what they want today, but predict what they will really want to buy tomorrow. The only question is which company will be making those sales at top margin. Hint: It will NOT be the company that has not done the work to truly understand their best customers.

3. Not Keeping Seasoned Advisers Near
As business owners move ahead in a business, they will lose perspective because they are bogged down in the day to day. While they may think they understand the big picture and have all the needed bases covered, they do not. This lack of perspective (and accountability based on that perspective) is the most sneaky business mistake an owner can make. If you have no access to a professional that provides such vital perspective, a professional that has an interest in your business’ continued growth and profitability, GET ONE! Even King Arthur kept Merlin nearby to provide perspective and guidance.