5 Things Hurt a Business whether intentionally or not. An unhappy customer can tell everyone they know about their bad experience, which could lead to hundreds of lost customers and lost revenue in the long run. An unhappy employee could also damage your business through their actions. To avoid hurting your business, consider these five ways to hurt a business and how to avoid them.
Flaunting Negativity
One of the quickest ways to turn off potential customers is by flaunting negativity. This can take many forms, such as complaining about your competition, badmouthing other businesses, or speaking negatively about your own products or services.
Not only is this unprofessional, but it also makes you look insecure and like you don’t believe in what you’re selling. A good way to avoid this is by focusing on what sets you apart from your competitors.
Breeding Laziness
Of all the ways to hurt a business, breeding laziness is perhaps the most insidious. It starts with hiring the wrong people – those who are not driven, or who lack the skillset required for the job.
From there, it’s a slippery slope; these employees will begin to slack off, and their work will suffer as a result. This in turn will have a negative impact on morale, and can eventually lead to the collapse of the business. To avoid this, be sure to carefully screen applicants, and only hire those who you think will be an asset to your company.
Read about: How To Keep Warehouse Staff Motivated?
Never Truly Investing Yourself
It takes more than just showing up to work to make a business successful. You need to be fully invested in your idea, your team, and your customers. Without that commitment, your business will never reach its full potential. That’s why you should strive to make your passion your profession; don’t just go through the motions of putting in the hours. If you do, then it won’t matter how good of an idea you have or how good of a team you assemble because you’ll never hit the big time.
First, start by taking on board the five tips listed below. They may seem like common sense but not following them can cause some serious damage to a fledgling company before it even has time to take off:
- Never Truly Investing Yourself
- Not Staying Up-to-Date with Technology
- Neglecting Customer Service
- Hiring Weak Employees
- Ignoring Team Dynamics
Never Saying Thank You
Saying thank you is one of the easiest and most important things you can do for your business. By showing appreciation for your customers, employees, and partners, you make them feel valued and encourage them to continue doing business with you.
But if you never say thank you, you send the message that you don’t appreciate their business or efforts. When people notice this lack of acknowledgment, they will take their business elsewhere in search of an organization that appreciates them.
Treating Others Badly
One of the quickest ways to kill a business is by treating others badly. This includes customers, employees, vendors, and anyone else you come into contact with. Why? Because bad word of mouth is incredibly powerful and can quickly destroy your reputation. Not to mention, it’s just plain wrong to mistreat people. Here are five ways that businesses often treat others badly and what they should do instead:
- When hiring, don’t ask questions that have nothing to do with whether or not they’re qualified for the job. You’re not looking for personality traits or how they would fit in at work. The person you’re looking for should be able to do the job well.
- Asking Can you start tomorrow? Interviewing someone means that you are hiring them on impulse without any consideration for their needs (or lack thereof). The same goes for asking about their availability before talking about salary.
- Constantly changing your policies and procedures will drive away customers as well as keep your staff on their toes.
Read about: How To Format A Business Plan For Success
