7 BAD BUSINESS HABITS YOU NEED T O AV O I D BY GEOFFREY BYRUCH AS AN ENTREPRENEUR, YOUR JOB IS N O T T O S I M P LY R U N A B U S I N E S S , B U T TO EMBODY THE ESSENCE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF A LEADER T O B E A L E A D E R , Y O U N E E D T O H AV E A SPECIFIC SET OF CHARACTERISTICS YOU NEED TO BE BOLD, FUTURISTIC, O R G A N I Z E D , A N D M O S T I M P O R TA N T LY I N S P I R AT I O N A L B U T W H AT H A P P E N S W H E N M O R A L E I S L O W ? W H AT H A P P E N S W H E N T H I N G S D O N O T G O Y O U R W AY ? F O R M A N Y O F U S , W E N E E D T O A C K N O W L E D G E T H E F A C T T H AT W E A R E H U M A N W E O F T E N M A K E M I S TA K E S T H E K E Y T O T H I S I S T O N O T R E P E AT T H E M I T I S Y O U R J O B T O B U I L D U P O N T H E S E FA I L U R E S A N D M A K E T H E M I N T O W I N D O W S O F O P P O R T U N I T Y BELOW YOU WILL FIND SEVEN BAD BUSINESS HABITS YOU WILL NEED TO FIX IF YOU WANT TO BE SUCCESSFUL INTERNALIZE AND REFLECT UPON THESE M I S TA K E S A N D S E E H O W YOU CAN CHANGE FOR THE BETTERMENT AS A WHOLE 1 TA K I N G Y O U R A N G E R O R I R R I TAT I O N O N COLLEAGUES OR CLIENTS • Expressing your anger and irrationality in an inappropriate way either to your colleagues or your clients can hinder the success, morale, and culture of your business • To avoid this type of confrontation, you must teach yourself healthy ways how to handle those challenges • Ask yourself various questions: Why did this happen? What could I have done to prevent this? How can we build upon this problem? What are various solutions? This type of positive and strategic thinking will give you an edge in coming up with quick viable solutions that you can leverage for the future 2 YOU FOCUS ON THE N E G AT I V E S R AT H E R THAN THE POSITIVES A S S TAT E D A B O V E , Y O U W I L L A L W AY S F A C E V A R I O U S U P S - A N D DOWNS IN THE ENTREPRENEURIAL GAME ONE BAD HABIT YOU S H O U L D AV O I D I S F O C U S I N G O N W H AT G O E S W R O N G T H AT W H AT G O E S R I G H T I N T H E D AY F O C U S I N G O N N E G AT I V E OCCURRENCES WILL CAUSE AN I N C R E A S E I N S T R E S S , A N X I E T Y, AND PRESSURE THIS CAN OFTEN L E A D T O N E G AT I V E CONSEQUENCES SUCH AS VERBAL C O N F R O N TAT I O N , L A C K O F F O C U S , A N D L A C K O F S L E E P WHEN RUNNING A NEW BUSINESS, Y O U N E E D T O U N D E R S TA N D T H AT THE BUSINESS SUCCESS IS A SLOW PROCESS AS MUCH AS YOU WANT T O F O C U S O N T H E N E G AT I V E S , SEE THEM AS OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUCCESS IN ADDITION, GO BEYOND YOUR PERSPECTIVE OF N E G AT I V E S A N D V I E W T H E P O S I T I V E S T H R O U G H O U T T H E D AY 3 F A I L I N G T O C O M M U N I C AT E W I T H EMPLOYEES OR CUSTOMERS E V E RY S U C C E S S F U L L E A D E R I S A B L E T O C O M M U N I C AT E O N A VA S T A M O U N T O F L E V E L S ANY TYPE OF LACK OF C O M M U N I C AT I O N C A N L E A D T O M I S U N D E R S TA N D I N G A N D N E G AT I V E O U T C O M E S M A K E S U R E T H AT W H E N Y O U ARE RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS T H AT Y O U A R E A B L E T O C O M M U N I C AT E O N A CONSISTENT BASIS MAKE THOSE AROUND YOU FEEL VA L U E D A N D R E C O G N I Z E D TOO BUSY TO SLEEP W E H AV E A L L B E E N T H E R E , I T IS 3:00 AM AND YOU ARE STILL BURNING THE MIDNIGHT OIL AS MUCH AS WE CAN THINK WE ARE BACK IN COLLEGE S T U D Y I N G F O R T H AT 1 ECONOMICS EXAM, WE NEED TO BE REALISTIC T H E M O S T I M P O R TA N T T H I N G Y O U C A N D O I S TA K E C A R E O F Y O U R S E L F A GOOD RESTFUL SLEEP CAN MAKE THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE IN YOUR PERFORMANCE 5 IGNORING MOBILE MARKETING REGARDLESS OF YOUR I N D U S T R Y, M O B I L E MARKETING SHOULD BE A PA R T O F Y O U R M A R K E T I N G PLANS OFTENTIMES, MOST SMALL B U S I N E S S E S D O N O T H AV E MOBILE-OPTIMIZED SITES T H I S L E AV E S Y O U R BUSINESS WITH A LOST OPPORTUNITY TO THE MILLIONS AMERICANS WHO USE THEIR SMARTPHONES E V E R Y S I N G L E D AY 6 N O T M A I N TA I N I N G YOUR WEBSITE • With a million things on your plate, why would your website matter? • When we think about Google, we want to think about search engine rankings • Keeping your site relevant with rich, organic, and unique content such as articles, videos, photos, or blogs will allow your business’s site to move higher over time • Keep in mind, your online maintenance is a process Make sure you are consistent with this 7 O N LY T H I N K I N G ABOUT TOMORROW • As much as we care about the present-day figures, make sure you are planning long term • Short term planning is incredibly beneficial especially when you are dealing with the dayto-day task of operations and management • But if you not set aside time to think about the future of your company, you may just be setting yourself up for failure • Make sure you think about future goals Go ahead five months, one years, five years into the future and see where you want your company to be  ... U N I T Y BELOW YOU WILL FIND SEVEN BAD BUSINESS HABITS YOU WILL NEED TO FIX IF YOU WANT TO BE SUCCESSFUL INTERNALIZE AND REFLECT UPON THESE M I S TA K E S A N D S E E H O W YOU CAN CHANGE FOR... CLIENTS • Expressing your anger and irrationality in an inappropriate way either to your colleagues or your clients can hinder the success, morale, and culture of your business • To avoid this type... articles, videos, photos, or blogs will allow your business? ??s site to move higher over time • Keep in mind, your online maintenance is a process Make sure you are consistent with this 7 O N LY T H