According to an article by Inc. magazine, 70% of companies close their doors within the first ten years of doing business. Here are five of the top reasons businesses fail and how you can prevent making the same mistakes.
1. Lack of Innovation
Due to a rapidly changing marketplace, business owners must embrace innovation to survive. Although it’s tempting to focus on temporary, every day problems you face when running a business, you should also schedule time to focus on developing original ideas and concepts. If Bill Gates can take a week off to think about his company’s strategy, so can you.
2. Ignoring the Competition
How is your business different from the competition? How do they price their products or services? The more you know about your competition, the better. Ignoring the competition can harm your business in the long-term. You can gain a deeper insight into how they conduct business when you analyze your top competitors.
3. Poor Financial Management
Por financial management is another reason most companies fail. Poor money management can lead to bankruptcy, poor cash flow and other issues that can be an impediment to your company’s success. A professional CPA firm can keep a close eye on your business’ financial health and offer professional advice.
4. Poor Marketing and Publicity
It doesn’t matter if you are selling the greatest products in the world if no one knows about it. Boost sales by proactively marketing your company where your target market is located.
5. Bad Customer Service
Bad customer service can make you lose hard-earned business. You can prevent this by establishing different procedures and quality metrics for customer service agents. This can also increase your chances of getting more repeat businesses from current customers.
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