As a business owner amidst a global pandemic, the simplest mistakes can cost you precious business growth.
But there are 5 common mistakes every entrepreneur needs to be aware of in 2021, that are also the most seemingly innocuous — and most business owners are already making them.
1. Panic
The natural reaction of almost any business owner when things start to go downhill is to panic. And once that worry sets in, it starts to change your decision making. You might start to feel stress which drives you to make decisions out of desperation — which then distracts you from your main objectives and critical decision-making.
For example, many business owners are panicking right now looking at their bank accounts or their lack of growth in the last year, and it’s causing them to make hasty decisions in a scarcity mindset — which will only hurt your business in the long run.
2. Reactive vs. Proactive
Once you start to get in panic mode, you will start to act out of reactivity. This is one of the most common mistakes, but also the most detrimental. Removing emotion from your financial decisions is one of the critical steps to building lifetime financial success. Instead of making reactive decisions during these difficult times, focus on making creative, proactive decisions for your business.
The idea behind being proactive is that you, as a business owner, can be ready for any situation — and you are taking actions that will make you a winner in the long run. This is regardless of the business performance or economic downturns. And worst of all, a reactive attitude against any setbacks in the business creates a chaotic chain reaction… which can affect your business for months, even years, to come.
3. Desire to Settle
Fear can make us settle for less than our expectations. “This last year was tough… why would I take a risk right now?!”. But the problem with this mindset is that you are limiting yourself from any further growth. Without risk, there’s no reward.
If you settle for less today, who knows how much potential your business may lose in the future. In fact, avoiding risks in business is the biggest risk you can take.
Never stop working towards the growth of your business, no matter how hard yesterday was.
4. Getting Lazy… Because it’s Safer
One of the things we do as humans, often unknowingly, when we get out of a period of chaos is to avoid any further chaos like the plague.
We sink back into our initial comfort zones, our lofty goals shrink, we avoid taking any risks, and get content in this safe, non-ambitious space we are now in. In a sense, we get lazy. We stop reaching for our dreams… but the underlying reason is out of fear of more potential failure, rejection and loss.
But imagine if you were getting the same results as you are now for the next five years…
There’s no way! You have so much more of this beautiful mountain to climb. You can’t stop reaching for the success of your dreams because of one hard year.
5. Forgetting What’s Most Important in Life
When we talk about success, we need to be aware that the reason we want to be successful in life has nothing to do with the actual money. It’s in order to live the life we want… the life we think will make us the happiest.
It’s so we can spend more time doing things we love, with the people we love. Provide a beautiful life for our families. Or if we don’t have love, to attract love.
There are so many people who become successful and forget why… and so they are unhappy. Don’t lose sight of the bigger picture and lose touch with your loved ones because you want to make money.
Never forget the true essence of why you strive for success.
