During the pandemic when tech was at its prime, I started my first business and I succeeded. However, this success was short-lived and after just 8 months, my business died a natural death. While I was trying to blame it on the technology, experts were saying it was all because of trends. Eventually, I realized it was time to learn from my mistakes and start another business.
Although my business failed again after almost 7 months, it taught me more than any job or online course ever could. Right now, I am working as a business consultant for a company while simultaneously working on my business.
If you are thinking of starting your business or you already own a business and struggling with sales, you need to learn from your mistakes.
Before starting the business hacks and highlighting the mistakes, keep in mind that the majority of startups fail in their first year. This is not just limited to solopreneurs and startups but the effect is now killing big businesses as well.
According to McKinsey, the life span of listed companies has shrunk from 61 years to just 18 years. This trend might be alarming for business owners but it pushes businesses towards innovation. If you are a business owner and you are confused about your dropping sales and alarmingly low ROI, keep reading, as we will discuss some of the reasons your business is slowly dying.
Old-school marketing especially mass media marketing was a sign that your company was doing good. From big tech like Apple to small-unknown businesses, you will see people struggling to advertise on mass media. However, this trend is changing especially after social media became a big part of selling and advertising.
Now TV is slowly losing its worth as an endorsing channel. Although big cable TV companies are offering affordable packages and built-in content streaming sites, this is not helping TV channels and their endorsement deals. Even if you are a big brand, it is high time for you to shift to digital marketing and ditch the expensive mass media marketing.
When shifting to digital marketing, everything has to be on point and immediate. That’s why you need to depend upon someone credible for your internet solutions, someone who doesn’t cause delays in executing campaigns timely. We trust Xfinity internet deals for this, and you should too because of the great offers and service quality.
Innovation is one of the most important things if you want to improve the lifespan of your business. This is not just for the listed companies but also for the small companies relying highly on technology. If you lose your innovation game, be prepared to lose your business as well.
Big companies like Nokia and Kodak which were once considered a pioneer in the tech business lost their majority share in the market because they failed to reinvent and innovate their product.
Innovation is driven by risk-taking and led by people who are ruthless and quick with their decisions. If you have a bureaucratic system in your company that favors hierarchy and regards rules more than innovation, it is time for you to rethink your business concepts.
Prioritizing hierarchy over innovation means that good ideas will eventually die while easy-to-implement ideas will be approved. Similarly, time-sensitive ideas that require instant attention will be shoved under the rug, and by the time they reach the table, your company will end up losing the opportunity.
Keeping up with the trends and making decisions to execute the right trend for your business is one of the best ways to run a successful business. While this may look a little risky, it will surely guarantee that your business reaches its full potential.
Companies that are famous for innovation are known to be trendsetters. This means they are ready to risk it all when it comes to innovation. Since most of the big companies lack the risk cushion, they fail. On the contrary, small companies that have nothing to lose jump on the trends and end up making the most out of these trends.
Retaining people or promoting people based on seniority is one of the worst ways to run a business. Most of the senior people might have experience of execution but they have limited tech knowledge and it takes longer for them to accept change. Since they are set in their ways, they do not favor people who are willing to take risks or explore other routes.
On the contrary, people with good business sense jump on trend faster because they retain and promote people based on their work and not their seniority.
There is no doubt that the success of your business comes down to the niche and the technology you are using but execution still plays a very important role. The above-mentioned ways are some of the most common mistakes that I have committed and learned from, however, based on the niche it is always better to explore more and read other case studies as well.
