General Business Factors
- 78% – Lack of a well-developed business plan, including insufficient research on the business before starting it.
- 73% – Being overly optimistic about achievable sales, money required and about what needs to be done to be successful.
- 70% – Not recognizing, or ignoring, what they don’t do well and not seeking help from those who do.
- 63% – Insufficient relevant and applicable business experience.
Financial Factors
- 82% – Poor cash flow management skills/poor understanding of cash flow
- 79% – Starting out with too little money.
- 77% – Not pricing properly – failure to include all necessary items when setting prices
Marketing Factors
- 64% – Minimizing the importance of promoting the business properly.
- 55% – Not understanding who your competition is or ignoring competition.
- 47% – Too much focus and reliance on one customer/client.
Human Resource Factors
- 58% – Inability to delegate properly – micro-managing work given to others or over delegating and abdicating important management responsibilities.
- 56% – Hiring the wrong people – clones of themselves and not people with complementary skills, or hiring friends and relatives.
So, what brings people to coaching is to have a strategic partner to THINK IT THROUGH. Your family is not neutral and does not necessarily have the ability to give constructive feedback. You boss, up-line or co-worker are also not neutral and may have the same blindside that you do. Your friends only want to hear so much about your work and few are willing to spend hours planning with you. The most common misconception of coaching is that its for people who are struggling and need help. While coaching can help these people too, We are not talking about people who NEED help. In order to be successful everyone needs to stop, think it through and plan.
What do you need to think through? What do you need to plan? Take time today to evaluate your business and needs. Consider where you might be at risk and what you want to design to support you to be strategic, proactive and successful!
Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN
