Most businesses fail in the first 5 years
Amazing lack of a business plan. Yes, “amazing,” because generally speaking a plan tends to be confused with your business dream.
1. The vision for your business is vital but it is not a business plan. If you don’t have a well thought out business plan, you cannot effectively convince to your financial backer or your staff to be. Your business plan will help you control all the vital stages of the business life cycle, like growing by design and plan rather than growing by big spurts of business. Growth is tempting, but not growing in a planned way manner is one of the reasons why businesses fail.
2. The typical startup tends to think, “It’s easier to just do it myself, by the time I train someone else.” The truth is that you feel you are the only one who can pull it off. You know, “Islands look great on postcards, but not in a business.” Don’t make the mistake of trying to build your barbeque business as an island. You can do a lot on your own but that doesn’t mean you have to do everything on your own. A business is only as strong as its leader – and the ability to let go and work with others is an essential. If you’re the type who needs to control everything, it’s likely you won’t succeed long term. Delegating is needed for time management and focusing your energy on what matters most.
3. The wrong equipment will hinder your barbeque productivity. There are a whole host of grill types: Electric, stick burner, charcoal, gas, pellet, offset, vertical, unconventional and much more. The trick is to learn what the top pit masters and cooks depend on. Lang is an industry standard that has been proven over many years. It’s easy to contact Lang owners on Facebook and ask their opinion. The best reference comes from the people who are actually using the product you are looking into.
4. Another reason businesses fail is that they fall focus on what they think a customer will like instead of the customers themselves. To avert business failure, focus on your customer and cater to their wants and needs. Anticipate what they want, what they need and deliver it. That will create loyalty for your business.
5. Not understanding what the barbeque business is really about. The excitement may be the types of meals you are anxious to prepare. Running the business takes a whole lot more than your passion to cook. The details are rigorous to say the least.
6. Hiring the wrong people is a disaster. Hiring the right staff has a direct effect on nearly every area of your business. One of the most obvious examples is creating demand. If you don’t have enough sales, you can’t pay your people or anything else. It’s amazing how many customers are lost because they are treated poorly and undervalued. Your business doesn’t run on your meals or even your brand, it runs of happy customers so the staff must be dedicated to that factor.
7. Styles, trends and personal tastes change over time. This applies to serving food. Great and massive companies no longer exist: J C Penny, Radio Shack? Blockbuster, Sears. Gone! These massive brands all fell with an inability to change/adapt. Businesses that refuse to shift directions when the customers do, lose out.
8. Whether your company is a food truck, a brick and mortar or online, marketing is a necessity. If you can’t find a way to market your barbeque, then your business will have a hard time making it. You could have the most innovative meal product, but the best product doesn’t always get you to success. How many fast-food franchises that make hamburgers are considered the top of the line? McDonald’s, arguably the largest, can’t really boast about the high-end quality of their burger but their marketing makes it happen.
9. Too many businesses operate in similar markets, offering similar products. That can cause a “commodity mindset.” In today’s economy people are looking to trade their dollars for value even if it’s perceived value. If the consumer sees two barbeque joints and cannot determine which one delivers value, they will buy the lower price. Without differentiation you are perceived as a commodity and the only way they can judge a commodity is on price. (Ugh!).
10. A passion-driven mindset will make all the difference when and if you face overwhelming odds, Quit or push-on? Passion will be the decider. Through your passion you will be able to see you’re your vision clearly, keep it before you and not give up. Passion allows you to take risks and to find a way.
11. Most businesses lack effective leadership. Too many businesses run by handling what happens when it comes. The problem here is that you find yourself managing consequences instead of managing the future. Business is like a large cargo ship. The captain must be present in the wheelhouse. It takes about one mile to bring a cruise ship to a full stop. If you are busy doing other things, assign someone else and get back in the wheelhouse.
12. A psychological factor is clearly another hindrance to succeeding in business. And that is self-doubt. You will have enough external business challenges to face without adding yourself into it. As you develop your managerial skills, you will find that one of your greatest assets is not making decisions based on doubt. Loss of confidence creates a loss of business. And customers can smell lack of confidence a mile away.
13. For the most part, your business will be judged on value. The delivery of value has built the largest corporations in the world; take Apple as an example. Consumers line up around the block for their new product entries. Barbeque is a tactile experience. You can’t hide poor taste, sloppy presentations, and low quality. In that world there are no “smoke and mirrors,” as they say. Focus efforts on real value. If you’re not adding more value than your competitors, they will stay in the lead.
14. The famed marketing guru Jay Abraham knows why businesses fail. It’s a mindset that drives businesses forward. One way to achieve a positive mindset is to believe in yourself and follow your vision and stay the course even in the storms.
15. When the money is rolling in, it’s easy to get sloppy and spend more than you should on what you would like even though it’s not needed. But having a strong sense to control the company’s expenses is vital. Uncontrolled expenses make for an expensive operation to run. And you can’t barbeque your way out of that.