“Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely.” - Henry Ford.
Leaders of large and small organizations make mistakes. We learn from them, but wouldn't you rather learn from the mistakes of others? There’s less damage to our own organization, and if we are alert, we can avoid the same error ourselves down the road.
Contributor to Entrepreneur, Lewis Holmes, shares some lessons we can learn from common mistakes entrepreneurs make.
Some leaders get caught up in chasing profits, whatever profit it may be, but not every opportunity is right for your business. Holmes says it’s vital to set boundaries for the type of work and client you want.
Holmes suggests you begin with the end in mind because it demonstrates to potential investors they’re investing in a business model, not an entrepreneur with a dream. Things can go wrong, so don’t let your optimism make you think otherwise. You may need someone else to step in one day and run your company. Steve Jobs and Apple is a great example of this.
Whether you have a new idea for a business venture or a product or a service, test all of your assumptions and ideas on paper. Before you decide to move forward know your costs, factor in the unexpected, and then decide if you should move forward.
You are one person and there are only so many hours in a day to get work done. You can’t handle everything so, to avoid burnout, delegate or outsource tasks that are better handled by others. Then keep track of the results.
Take each mistake as a valuable learning experience you can take with you for the rest of your career. As business leaders, it’s our job to learn from our mistakes and move forward.
What other common mistakes do leaders make?
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Businesses get so caught up in the relentless pursuit of new customers, they often forget about the customers they already have. It’s a costly mistake, since by some estimates, acquiring new customers costs five to 10 times as much as keeping loyal customers. And no business survives long using that arithmetic.
Jason Brick, a contributor to Open Forum, warns “preventable losses” are the most damaging to small businesses.
He shares some tips about common mistakes all businesses make—and how you can avoid losing a customer.
“Sharing customer information can represent a new income stream for your business,” Brick concedes, but at what cost? When customers purchase your product or service, they are willing to share personal data with you. They trust you to be responsible caretakers of that data. Once trust is broken, you’ve lost a customer.
Politics and religion are hot-button topics under the best of circumstances, so there’s no good reason to unleash these “conversational time bombs” within the confines of your business.
“If a client brings the topic up, it’s best to be noncommittal while listening politely,” says Brick. Good advice!
Some businesses will go to great lengths to avoid owning up to their mistakes. Some even cast blame on their customers (“used our product incorrectly,” etc.).
Even if the issue is the customer’s fault, the wisest approach is to offer a sincere apology. As Brick notes, “The price of replacing a purchase or giving away a few hours of service is nothing compared to the future value of that customer.”
Amazon offers suggestions based on the products a customer buys, so why can’t you? “Firing off a set of suggestions without regard for who you’re asking shows you don’t value the customer as an individual,” Brick says.
On the other hand, if you take time to make suggestions based on a specific customer analysis, you may be providing genuine value to your customers. One-size-fits-all doesn’t work here.
Rudeness to customers takes many forms: inattention, loss of temper, acting bored or arrogant. It can happen to the best of us, but if it occurs in the course of a customer encounter, you will likely never see that customer again.
“Train your employees—and yourself—to leave those behaviors behind when they come to work,” Brick says. “Nothing you wouldn’t say or do to your favorite grandmother has a place when working with customers.”
Time and again, it’s the little things that count. How much effort does it take to acknowledge customers you’ve served before? Some small notice of their repeat business helps keep them loyal. As Brick suggests, “A ‘how did you like that shirt you bought last week?’ can go a long way."
Take a few minutes to remind your team of the value of honoring loyal customers who continue to purchase your products or services.
What are your own customer-retention best practices?
