Discussions With Family
Some people get extremely private about business, and they don’t like to discuss anything about it with their friends and family. However, if no one in your family knows about your business, it might seem like you’re hiding something. This can do you a lot more harm than it can do you good. You need to let your family know about your business – the ups and downs, the good and bad, so that if and when you need their support, they’re there for you and ready to step up.
Goals
One of the biggest ways to ruin your business is not setting high enough goals (or not setting any at all). Every good business has weekly, monthly and yearly goals they want to meet. You may not meet every single one, but that’s ok. As long as you can address why this goal wasn’t met and come up with a plan to avoid the mistake in the future, you’ll be on the right track.
Belittling Your Business
Making jokes and belittling your business is one quick way to ruin it yourself. Sometimes, when people are uncomfortable about their own business, they tend to joke about it or mock in a playful way. You need people to take you and your business seriously. Even if it is just your family and friends, make sure they take you seriously too. What if someone were to call and your child picked up – what would they say about the business if asked a basic question?
Belittling Other Businesses
Everyone wants to think that their home based business is the best one around. However, when you bash other companies, you’re bashing the whole industry. Half your battle in business is getting the public to accept you and your business as being one that is reputable and legitimate. When you bash other companies, you are only hurting your own as well – this exudes the opposite of professionalism.
Social Networking
One of the biggest things that can bring your business down is spending too much time on social network sites and message forums. Facebook, Twitter and other social networks are great ways to market your business, but it’s very tempting to go overboard. Never bombard your audience with needless reminders, messages or even deals. Time your promotions wisely and limit messaging to weekly (perhaps bi-weekly outreach).
Business Hours
If you own your own business and work from home, it doesn’t mean that you should not have structure. If you want to be successful, you need a set schedule. Once you have reached your goals, you can relax a bit more, but most new businesses should have wide-ranging schedules laid out that keep you organized and on track.
Betsy Tisdale writes about her career in business and education. Her recent work is on Great Business Schools in the US
