By Mary Callater (this article is published with the approval of www.aberdeenbusinessnews.co.uk)
Starting a new business can be exciting, but it’s very far from easy. Many businesses end up folding within a few years of operation. To maximize your chances of success, you should examine the common mistakes new business owners make and strive to avoid them. Read on to learn about these mistakes.
1. Failing to Pick the Right Domain Names
We all know that it’s important to have a business website. But one thing you may forget is the importance of a memorable and catchy domain name. You can brainstorm a number of names and then use a domain checker like IONOS to find out if the names are available. IONOS even lets you generate domain names with the help of AI programs. Something else you should consider is the web hosting service you use. Ideally, it should support 99.9% uptime and must offer a high load speed. Otherwise, your website will experience a high bounce rate, and this will make your pages rank poorly on search engine results pages.
2. Failing to Get Insurance
Insurance is extremely important in business. With it, you’ll protect your customers, employees and assets. It’s worth noting that liability claims can set you back significantly, and getting a cover for such incidents can end up saving your business.
3. Hiring and Firing Carelessly
Your employees are your biggest assets. Hiring the wrong people can have serious consequences on your bottom line, as well as the morale in the workplace. Many new business owners make the mistake of solely considering the qualifications of the applicants. Instead of doing this, you should also check whether the candidates are motivated and able to fit into the company culture. Similarly, you shouldn’t be quick to fire employees. It takes resources to hire and train them, so it’s prudent to find solutions before laying employees off.
4. Doing Everything on Their Own
New business owners tend to work too many hours as they want to do everything on their own. This can be highly inefficient since you won’t have enough time to do what you know best. Eventually, your business growth will be stunted. Instead of doing too much hands-on work, you should hire professionals to handle non-core tasks like cybersecurity. It’s also possible to outsource some roles to freelancers.
5. Ignoring Cash Flow
Businesses need a positive cash flow to stay afloat. That means you should be bringing in more money than you’re taking out. There are some tips you can use to make sure you always have a positive cash flow. For example, you should send out invoices early and monitor your stock levels.
Conclusion
A good way of maximizing your chances of success in business is to analyze the common mistakes people make when running new companies. First, they often pick the wrong domain names for their websites. Many people also fail to get insurance coverage, and this exposes them to significant risk. Hiring and firing employees carelessly is also quite common among new business owners. That implies that you shouldn’t do everything on your own. Finally, you should always monitor your cash flow and implement practices that will earn you a positive cash flow.
Mary Callater, the Author, is a freelance journalist who specialises in marketing and business subjects. She provides opinion piece articles for Union Media each month.
