We all have in us the potential to be the most successful business person we can be, yet many people don’t even consider this to be an option in their lives. For those that do there are many that will not succeed at it. In this post I’ll go through five of the main blocks that people encounter when building a successful business.

That Is Not What I See For My Business

Often when a business is going round & round in the same circles without progressing & the people in charge look for help, the advice they get doesn’t sit well with them. It means changing behaviours that the business owners don’t like & they will often trot out the line above as a reason not to change. It’s a well know fact that humans dislike change, yet it is something that we are constantly doing, without being aware of it. Every time we think a new thought, we change, when we learn something new, we change. For a business to grow & be brilliant the owners have to step out of their comfort zones, implement the changes necessary to move forward.

I’m Not Qualified Enough/I Don’t Have The Skills

This is still a huge block that many business people use as a way of not growing a business. The unfortunate truth in today’s society is there is no excuse to not upskill or hire somebody, even temporarily, with the skills that are lacking. Often business people only see one part of the problem, a lack of a certain skillset, then they see the cost of acquiring those skills, then they stop. Sometimes it is because they feel they have to do it all themselves or other times it is because they don’t see the value to be gained in bringing in someone with the skills they are lacking – to that business’s detriment.

I Can’t Afford It

For any business to grow investment is required, of time & money. There are a lot upfront costs that a lot of businesses deem absolutely necessary to starting a business some of which realistically could be left until the business is more established. There are also other costs are overlooked that should not be. When somebody says they can’t afford to pay for something it is usually a case that they can & that this particular something is lower down in their list of priorities so gets discounted. Or it can be a case of the value for what they are getting isn’t obvious so the business owner yet. The problem with that is they miss out on opportunities that can’t be regained.

I Don’t Have The Time

We all get the exact same twenty-four hours in the day, every day that we are alive. Some people use it to their best advantage & squeeze as much into it as they possibly can. Other’s waste a lot of their time by prioritising the wrong things & seem to be constantly chasing their tail to get tasks done. A simple way to overcome that is to set a time-diary where you have all of your day mapped out for the whole of your working day & to stick with it until you get into the habit of managing your time effectively. If it is a case of really having too much to do, then it is a case of learning to delegate the less important things to somebody else to do, freeing up the time for the really important tasks.

I Can’t Say No, I Might Lose Them

Every business has great customers, good customers & bad customers. Many business owners specially when they are new businesses feel that they have to accept every bit of business that comes their way. This can often be counter-productive as a bad customer can take up more time, effort & money than the revenue or value they bring into the business, taking from the time you could have spent with great or good customers. It is sometimes better to say to such customer that you can’t at this time do business with them. You can even refer them on to your competition who might turn out to be a perfect fit for them.

There are many other blocks that businesses have to overcome to be successful, these are only five of them. Please comment below if you have one that isn’t listed above & share it, it could be just what a business owner needs to know.