13 Business attitudes that work against your business growth – Bad business attitude don’t grow businesses. These are entrepreneurial attitudes that can hinder your business growth. It has to do with the business man’s mind-set, natural endowment and training. If you do away with these you begin to do other things that will allow your business grow. Attitudes that work against your business growth is the main thrust of this article.
Good attitude will attract clients/customers, encourage people (workers) to work for you, and promote your business image which will make your business attractive to others. Good business attitude will grow your SWOT emphasis which will turn your fortune around. But bad attitude will do the damaging. SWOT is acronym for STRENGTH. WEAKNESS, OPPORTUNITIES AND THREAT. With bad attitude to business you may not be able to maximise your business strength and opportunities let alone turning the weakness and threat into strength and opportunities. Once you can’t command your environment, the business suffers.
I want you to join me go through these common wrong attitudes to business. Take a piece of paper and note down the ones you must work on immediately.
13 Business attitudes that work against your business growth
Table of Contents
1. No Proper Records/Documentation
No proper business records means you don’t have the history of your business transactions. Why do you think people keep diary? Without proper documentation, how would you monitor your activities and those who work for you and those you deal with.
In fact, how do you analyse and assess your performances. How do you satisfy the demand of your industry regulators? How do you meet up with certain government agencies demand like those of Securities and Exchange Commission, Corporate Affairs Commission, Federal Inland Revenue Service etc.
The point here is, once you can’t meet up with your record or documentation processes, you will have problems within and without your organisation. If you have problem for instance with the Tax Authority, you certainly have gotten big problem on your hands.
13 Business attitudes that work against your business growth
2. No proper procedures/job ethics
Your business must be well organised. It should have procedure for doing things. The internal control system must be working effectively. There must be proper segmentation of activities and segregation of of duties. Property procedure for assignment of duties, supervision, and reporting system must be in place.
Again, business matters must be separated from domestic/ personal matters. I know some business men who don’t allow their wives in their offices. I also know some business women who don’t allow their husbands in their business decisions. When they get home they are wives and husbands, but in the office, official decisions take the lead. I hope you are getting something from these examples. Follow me still.
3.Frequent change of business line.
There is an adage that says “a rolling stone gathers no moose”. If you move from one business line to another very often you will not know anything about any particular business. In my article ‘ the Roles of Business Plan/Start-up Needs‘, issues relating to business start-up processes are discussed. Why would you get into a business any-how? Why didn’t you get a business coach and a business plan? Again, why didn’t you check out for such businesses in a feasibility study?
Well, it’s not too late to start again. Click here to read through Business step-by-step start-up process. Find out also what a business coach can do for you.
4.Neglecting Competitors:
You must not neglect your competitors. This is because you need a reasonable market share to survive. It will also help you to be innovative. It will help you generative excellent strategic marketing for your goods or services.
Now, I understand why you neglected competition in the beginning. It is because you did not seek for professional advice in the line of business. My dear you can’t do it just like that. If you don’t have such an industrial knowledge, you must hire one who knows. No professional business coach will let you do what you are doing now. Get one today.
13 Business attitudes that work against your business growth
5.Never had any Business SWOT Analysis:
Every business has internal factors it can leverage on. These are the business strength and weaknesses. You must know where your business strength lies and where the weaknesses are also. If you don’t know these you will be like a soldier who is attacking his enemy without knowing the enemy location.
There are also environmental factors to leverage on. These are the opportunities the environment offer and the threat it posses to the business. Frankly speaking, if you miss these opportunities no matter how much strength you have, you will not do well in the business. If there are environmental threats, you must deal with them also. What do you think will happen if you locate your Wine/Liquor bar business in-between a church building and a mosque building? This environmental threat is enough to close your business down – true or false?
Don’t neglect your business SWOT analysis. A business consultant will help you overcome these challenges.
6.No Proper Business Registration:
If you don’t register your business, you don’t have legal backing to do business. Every business should be a legal personality that can conduct business activities. A registered business whether incorporated trustees, Companies, partnership, sole trader business etc. stand good ground of doing business at all times.
In Nigeria today, non-registered business can not do any business with any government office. Other companies would not like to do business with a non-registered business. Doing business with a non-registered business is like gambling – no legal protection.
13 Business attitudes that work against your business growth
7.No Tax payment:
This may be why you did not register your business. You are thinking that the tax payment will be an extra expenditure. This wrong view is why you need a tax consultant. Tax consultant will let you know that tax payment is a normal business expenditure. In fact, you should factor all these into your business expenses. I will tell you more if you contact me.
Again, you need to know that without tax clearance certificate in Nigeria you can’t do business with any government organisation or private organisation. The reason is that your business should have tax identification number (TIN) where all your tax dealing with other organisations are credited.
In addition, Corporate citizenship entails patriotism. If your business don’t pay tax it will be seen as unpatriotic as criminals. I know that you wouldn’t want both your good self and your business to be so regarded. Then get a tax consultant. He will help you sort out all your tax challenges. He will also let you know how to manage your business to be able to generate this tax payment as part of your business expenses.
8.Low Capital Base:
You really want to run your business alone as a family business? This is good, but can the family raise the large capital you require for this business? Please do something to attract outside investors into your business. They will bring in more capital and more ideas.
You can always have a family business. Business or business name does not finish. But let this do well for now, in due cause you can get one for your family. Remember, large capital large profit an large returns.
13 Business attitudes that work against your business growth
9.No policy to build strong capital base
This seems related to the point above, but I’m looking at it differently. This is because it involves deliberate policy for you to plough back the current profits into the business to build its capital base.
Start this from this year’s business. I can help you prepare a 5-year business projection that will guide you, and help you beef-up your capital with what you earn already. With this you may not be needing outside investors who may be “ take-overs”.
10.Ignoring Economic challenges/No Rational expectation.
Every economic challenge presents an opportunity. That is what innovation is all about. A new challenge present a different opportunity for something unusual. The principle of rational expectation will always enable you to work out ways of escape ahead of time from any anticipated challenge ahead.
Do not ignore economic challenges, they present new economic opportunities. Many people make their millions during recessions while other ordinarily sit down to lament on hard times only. Look around you and take up the opportunity you see there now.
11.Ignoring political signs:
Your political environment matters a lot for your business. Therefore watch when it give positive or negative signs. Do no ignore it at all. Political decisions are meant to change the operations or happening of things for some political benefits due for few. Ironically, these affect businesses.
Be careful in handling this, but do not ignore it. In matters like this always put on your Rational Expectation Cap.
13 Business attitudes that work against your business growth
12. Frequent change of phone numbers:
Whenever you change your phone number you loose contacts; you disconnect some of your networks. If you change your phone number you loose contact with your bank, pension manager, disconnect your National ID, Voters ID, and international passport details. With these alone you are half dead. So why not well-come back the misplaced phone number instead of abandoning it.
I have been using one phone number for 14 years now, and I have continued to maintain my contacts. I would want you to do same.
13. Not having an email address:
Considering the 13 Business attitudes that work against your business growth, if you are running a business without an email address you are like one doing business without post office mail box in 1970’s. If you don’t have email address how are your clients, suppliers etc. relate with you? How do you relate with certain offices whose activities are majorly on-line now?
Somebody approached me for a business plan. He has no email address. I tell you it was very difficult to deal with him. Now think about an urgent business information that is online?
13 Business attitudes that work against your business growth
Truly, I’m sure you are well informed now. I would like you to share this with your friends. That’s what friends are for. Let him/her know. These are free business tutorials which I have laboured so much for in the past 30 years, but you see, I have given it to you free. So let somebody know about it too.
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Deacon Anekperechi Nworgu, a seasoned economist who transitioned into a chartered accountant, auditor, tax practitioner, and business consultant, brings with him a wealth of industry expertise spanning over 37 years.
