6 Costly Assumptions That Will Sink Your Business

Out of a dire need to straighten the wrong perceptions of business owners, I make this post. I am tired of seeing mediocrity everywhere around me; many business owners who have been as long as even 10 years in business, making assumptions that are costly and could destroy what they have built all these years. And indeed, many are dying slowly without knowing, but wonder what is killing their business. Don’t look too far. The problem is with you.  
 
When business starts flourishing, the tendency is to think that you have arrived and can do whatever you want and remain on top of the market. This is where many business owners miss it. They treat customers and workers anyhow, spend money without caution, despise competitors that come up, and sooner than later, the business starts feeling the waves as they hit hard and then come the storms that pull it down. This is always the trend and I think I need to share this with you.
 
Are you wondering why your onetime flourishing business is today barely surviving? The following are ten costly assumptions that you may have made either consciously or unconsciously, that have ripped off all they have labored to build in many year.
 

1.    My Business Can Never Die

The most stupid thought that could ever cross the mind of any business owner is the thought that his/her business will always be there no matter what happens. Funny enough, this is what some business owners think.
 
Your business did not just happen. It is where it is today because many hours of hard work and thinking and adequate amount of resources have gone down. Why then do you think it will be there tomorrow by chance? In most cases it will even need more than what it took you to be where you are today to be where you hope to be tomorrow. Don’t make the costly mistake of assuming that you will always be on top of your game even if you don’t work hard for it.  You will be surprise when competition comes unnoticed.
 

So: Do more than what you have been doing and stay on top of your market.

2.    There Is No Need To Advertise

Very often when businesses are well established and doing well in the market, the tendency is for their owners to feel that even without promoting their products, they will continue to outperform all their competitors in the market. So they go to sleep and stop promoting their products. After all, the sales figures are still great.
 
Sometimes the assumption is that everyone already knows what you offer, perhaps because you have been in that business for so long or you feel that the amount of money you will be spending for adverts is not necessary.
 
As new products hit the market and are promoted daily, people give them a try and if they are as good as yours or better, they gradually reconsider their choices of what products to go for.
 
Now with the coming of the internet, no one has an excuse. There are many free and easy-to-access forums on the internet which any business owner can make use of and promote his/her products.
 

So: Spare no opportunity to promote your business.

3.    There Are No Competitors

Amongst all the costly assumptions made by business owners, this is one that is made often. It is true that at one point or the other your business may not have visible competition but it depends on your ability to see it when it is there.
 
Competition does not just start the day you begin to feel it. It had been there and any wise business man or woman had seen it growing and had faced it while it was still unnoticeable by many. The fact that you are the first person with that business idea does not make you the owner of the idea. As soon as you start succeeding, many others will covert your idea and become a serious threat to your business. But before you could even notice competition, compete with your yesterday, today, so as to be better tomorrow.
 

So: Your yesterday’s performance is the first thing you have to compete with today.

4.    My Customers Have No Choice

You think so? Wait until you begin to notice a reduction in sales. It is true that when the desirable is not available, the available becomes desirable. But this could only last a while.
 
You don’t do your customers a favor by offering them the services you offer. Your customers owe you nothing but the money they are required to pay for what you offer them. You owe them not just the product you offer, but respect, high quality services, consistency, etc. You need them more than they need you. The truth is, without them, you will leave the market.
 
You may not think or say that your customer has no choice but your attitude is able to tell what you think. When you don’t bother to know what your customer wants and what he/she feels about the services you offer, you are saying you don’t care what they think or want because they have no choice. 

Watch out! You can only do this for a while. Each time a customer leaves your shop, he/she goes with a greater or lesser determination to come back again. When competition shows up, you will have a strong fight to fight.


 So: Treat your customer as king. It is not an old theory.

5.    My Workers Have No Choice

This too is common. We get people to work for us and because we pay them, we feel they could be treated anyhow and nothing will happen.  Our reason is that we feel there are more people out there looking for the opportunity to work with us and so even if they leave, their spaces will be filled.
 
This is a costly assumption to make. When you lose a worker, you lose money. How? Any new person coming to fill the vacancy takes time to learn the business operations. If you understand business management you will know that this time and the time you spend to teach the new staff about the business, is money. More so, you have to bear with the mistakes and damages of the new staff and some of these can cost the business so much money. Then, what about the money you spent to train the old staff?
 
Your worker can leave you and get a better job; but you cannot let him go and easily have a better worker with a better performance. Think about it. They have a choice.
 

So: Treat your workers like one who is privileged to have them on your business.

 

6.    I Am Making Too Much Money

O yea! Really? I just asked Bill Gates and he said he is looking forward to his next dollar. Did you hear that? He wants to make one more dollar. How much have you made? How much money is too much?
 
Only lazy business owners make such an assumption. Whenever this thought comes to mind, the tendency is to slow down your operations, spend money foolishly, become blind to the mistakes you are making, welcome complacence and end up crashing.
 
You are not making any money. You only need business prowess and you will never think you have made anything.
 

So: Make sure that money always meets your mind thinking of the next thing to do.

With these points above, I am sure you can understand the problems in your business and know what to amend. Perhaps you have some more costly assumptions to share. Please share them in your comments below.
 

By Kadzem Claude

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