Common mistakes small businesses make

By Gerry Plaza You've got it all set. A sound business plan. Expertise. Familiarity with the m arket. State-of-the-art tools. But no one is biting. What went wrong? Small businesses really played hard but they still stare at a huge deficit agai nst the competition. We've talked to people who went through the same perilous journey but came back a victor. Why the losses? These pundits see the same mistakes happen again and again. Her e are the most common: 1) Doing it all alone. Small businesses are prone to this pitfall. Entrepreneur s tend to wear so many hats that they end up unfocused on the essentials--devel op and market the business, provide leadership, and set directions. No the gene ral manager has no business troubleshooting the employee's rundown PCs. In this regard, outside or external help is needed. 2) No thorough market research. You may have the best product but will the mark et take notice? Small business owners think that a scan of a favorite business paper or magazine or a chat with senior colleague would be enough to know about the market. But there is more that meets the eye. The imperatives in this rega rd are: know your market, know your industry, know your competition, and of cou rse, know your target audience. 3) No openness to change. Entrepreneurs express passion in everything they do. Sometimes they become too passionate to a point that they lose the flexibility or the openness to change. This comes most glaringly when an original business plan does not work. No review is made to alter or reposition their business. En trepreneurs almost always stick to what they always believe in from the start. They keep the faith that their original strategy would work despite indications it really won't or ever will. 4) Most deals end up 'he said she said'. Almost nothing is black and white. Sma ll business owners always forget to put key decisions, deals in writing and fai l to archive pertinent documentation. This leads to terrible business managemen t, leading to potential problems in partnership programs, tax audits, and other processes.