As per data gathered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years. 45% fail during the first five years, and 65% in the initial 10 years. About 25% of new businesses can sustain themselves for 15 years or more.

Today, we are going to take a look at some of the most common mistakes businesses make so you can better your chances of sustaining a business:

Poor Finance Management

Losing control of the finances can wreak havoc on your business. Businesses should be aware of their financial standing at any given time. Insufficient financing or the wrong type of financing can be damaging. A business owner should understand and control their costs and recognize both risks and opportunities to reduce terrible surprises.

Moreover, hiring an experienced accountant and using an effective accounting solution can ease financial management issues.

Absence of Solid Leadership

A good leader can identify the skills the business lacks and the jobs it fails to make out time for. He outsources or employs professional help to fill in those gaps. He communicates with the employees directly and rewards them with a chance to grow. This leads to a loyal team. Poor leadership leads to demotivated and dissatisfied employees that affect business productivity hindering growth.

Issues with Business Plan

A realistic business plan forms the foundation of a successful business. You map out the achievable goals, both short-term and long-term, and how the business can meet those goals effectively. After formulating a plan, you have to follow it. Increasing your expenses or changing your strategies would lead you to failure. If your business plan is inaccurate, try to find the issues and fix them. Or better, follow a new plan. The more mistakes you make, the more the costs of business.

Simply put, you must come up with a a product messaging template and a solid business plan.

Being Inflexible

Do not become rigid once you have set yourself up, established a business, and gained a few customers. Watch market trends and adapt accordingly. Staying on top of the latest trends allows you to adjust your strategy and be successful. Being inflexible and not changing with the market and industry trends would make you stay behind, and eventually, your business will die down.

Not Investing in Sales Enablement

Sales are the most important part of the business. Low sales are damaging to the business. Nowadays, it has become inevitable to use a sales enablement solution. Investing in top sales enablement tools like Content Camel could be extremely beneficial for the sales reps. Sales enablement software help in automation, and collaboration. It provides relevant content to sales to drive more revenue. Not using a sales enablement solution would cost your sales rep a lot of time and effort that they could otherwise use to generate more leads and conversions.

Not Focusing on Online Presence & Marketing

Just as a bad location impacts a business so does a poor online presence. People nowadays check the online presence of a business. It is as important as the physical location. It allows people to trust your business and even check if you are authentic. You could have online reviews of your business on social media so people can trust you. People have a hard time believing brands that have nothing to show online.

Moreover, see that your marketing efforts are top-notch. The word must spread to the right people. Your marketing efforts should be according to the target market you wish to penetrate. You have to reach the audience who needs your product/service.

Fast Expansion

If you wish to expand your business, see that you fully understand the markets and areas you wish to reach. You have to fully understand the scope of new products and services. Expanding too fast without proper planning, research, and strategy would result in a financial drain on your business.

Dependence on Few Big Customers

Being overly dependent on a few main customers could lead to failure if one decides to leave. This would significantly impact both the cash flow as well as profit. As a result, you would have to offer discounts, which lead to low margins in the future. Your best bet is to increase your customers and diversify your product portfolio. Also, ask customers to sign contracts having a reasonable notice time.

It takes a lot of skills and research work to keep a business running. Proper planning and investing in the right tools ensure the success of your business.