Businesses fall and rise even giants are no exception due to certain bad habits of entrepreneurs. Business doesn’t run itself, it’s people that run business no matter the system you put in place. Some prominent products we used to know years back are no longer in the market now just like some big business names, we don’t hear of them anymore.
Despite all these, some businesses have scaled through the test of time because they know how to make a business work so, against all market tests and competition are still at the top of their games. What are these things that differentiated these lasting brands from other failed brands? What were these bad habits of entrepreneurs that killed these brands?
1 complacency
Complacency is that feeling that makes you think that you’ve arrived, it’s one of the most negligible bad habits of entrepreneurs. It’s difficult to climb to the top but it’s more difficult to stay at the top. Nokia used to be the most valuable brand when it comes to phones but today they are not even among the top 7. What about blackberry? They are nowhere to be found anymore. What happened? They stopped making efforts to grow, they became complacent simply because they have come to the top where it looked so impossible to be disrupted and overthrown.
Lesson
Never come to a point in business where you stop making effort or get too relaxed or get too stuck over celebrating your win that you no longer push forward. Excellence is a journey, not a destination. Every day a lion wakes up in the jungle knowing that if it must eat, it must run faster than the gazelle. Same with the Gazelle who wakes up every morning knowing that if it must live, it must outrun the lion. Business in an open market system is simply like a jungle. You’re either on the menu or you’re on the table eating the menu.
2 Deaf to users review
All the complains people gave about the overheating issues and the sluggish hanging problem of blackberry phones, what did they do with all those complains? All the while users requested for more efficient smart devices, why didn’t Nokia listen to the users instead they kept releasing new models that solved no new problems. When other better and smarted phones penetrated the market, users didn’t waste time eradicating their Nokia and blackberry phones. They were simply deaf to user reviews. One of the most silent bad habits of entrepreneurs is thinking that customers aren’t part of the product development team.
Read Also: 6 Attributes that show an entrepreneur would succeed
Lesson
Have a platform where you collect user review and feedback about your business. Don’t just collect these feedbacks and reviews, also attend to them. This is one way you know what your customers want from your business and what changes you should implement. If you don’t listen to customers’ complains in your business, very soon you will see no customers anymore.
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3 slow to change
Change is inevitable in business, neglecting the possibility for change is one of the bad habits of entrepreneurs. Once in a while, pick your phone and search for future trends in your industry. In 10-15years time automobile companies that don’t make a switch from petrol to electric as means of fueling their cars might soon be out of the market. There was a time we used kerosene lamps, now rechargeable lamps and energy-saving bulbs are everywhere. Nokia didn’t see the change of a new operating system like android hitting the market soon and even when it happened, it took them so much of a long time to adjust to the market despite that android operating system was open source.
lesson
Be very quick to change. Never resist change in business. Simply evolve with evolving trends and technology and always be on the move. know what the latest trend is and always search to know how technology is changing your business.
4 Bad partnership – bad habits of entrepreneurs
A partnership can make or kill a business it’s one of the most dangerous bad habits of entrepreneurs. Some banks by merging with another bank have become stronger and better while some business has died as a result of the partnership. Nokia trying to evolve went into a wrong partnership which didn’t solve their problem but killed them the more until they said bye to Microsoft.
lesson
Think twice before going into any partnership. Some businesses have been trapped by unnecessary partnerships. If you must, hire the services of a business consultant together with a legal solicitor to help you evaluate and draft the right partnership agreement for your business.
