3 Ways You Are Killing Your Own Business Sometimes, the obstacle holding you back is staring at you in the mirror.
By Tyler Leslie Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
If you want to create a company that has longevity and becomes a household name, then growing your business will be your main focus. There are many different things you can do to grow your business. Some people put the emphasis on the newest, biggest idea they can think of to grow their business. In a sense they're trying to reinvent the wheel.
Reinventing the wheel isn't a bad thing by any means, but sometimes overthinking how to grow your business can be a downfall. Instead of looking for the next big idea to grow your business, you may need to take a long, hard look at yourself, and figure out how you are stopping your business from growing.
Below, I have provided three reasons why you are the one killing your own business:
1. You do everything yourself because you are a perfectionist.
Being a perfectionist in business has its advantages and disadvantages. Usually when you're a perfectionist, you're very particular of how things should look and how things need to be. It's your business, and that's your choice, but what if being a perfectionist is what's stopping your business from growing?
Related: How Perfectionism Is Sabotaging Your Business
Being a perfectionist usually means you're involved with every little detail in your business. That can be why your business isn't growing. You could be spending too much time focusing on something that is so small in comparison to something that could be bringing in more revenue and customers. Figuring out what is more important to focus on is how you will be able to grow your business.
2. You aren't hiring people on their strengths.
Finding the right person for the right position is grossly underestimated. A lot of businesses hire someone based on their experience but their strengths don't align with that role. Just because someone has experience with a specific position doesn't necessarily mean that is what they are good at.
When hiring someone for a certain position, it's best to know the most important aspect of that position -- then hire someone with that skill set. For example, if you're hiring for a customer service position, don't necessarily look to see if that person has experience answering phones and experience with the software that your company uses. Instead, focus on if they have actual people skills and if they're capable of connecting with people to make their experience a little more enjoyable. Focusing on the most important role in a specific position -- and hiring someone based on that -- can help with your business growth.
Related: 5 Ways to Make Your Hiring Process More Fair
3. You don't invest the money back in the business because you want it for yourself.
When you start seeing success in your business, you start feeling excited. You slowly start seeing your income rise. And that's where a lot of businesses get stagnant and plateau. When the income starts rising, you start feeling a little better, and you decide that you want to start living a little better.
You start using your money to dress a little nicer. You start looking for a nicer house to raise your family in. All of those things are fine, but what about putting that money back into your business? Maybe instead of buying a new car, you put that money back into the business, and hire a new employee that will help a department that you're lacking in.
Related: Why You Need to Reinvest Half of What You Earn Back into Your Company
It may not be something that instantly changes your business, but it could be something, over time, that dramatically helps your business.
There are thousands of ways to grow your business. Sometimes you will have to spend money to grow your business. And sometimes you just need to take a look at yourself and figure out what you're doing that could be stopping your business from growing.
