We also understand how easy it is to get stuck in some of the common pitfalls that plague business ownership.  It can be difficult to break out of bad habits and start working smarter, not harder.

So right of the bat, we thought we’d share the eight most common mistakes small business owners make, and how you can stop making them:

1. Not setting clear goals. Operating without a clear understanding of where we want our business to go is a sure recipe for disaster.  Creating a solid vision, and establishing clear, attainable targets are the first steps we take when embarking on any new marketing program.

2. Confusing being busy with being successful. It’s really easy to believe that working 80-hour weeks in a business that relies on our involvement is just part of being successful.  But what about having the personal and financial freedom to do the things we enjoy and spend time with those we love?

3. Advertising with a weak marketing message.  If our marketing message doesn’t speak directly to our market’s needs and wants our marketing materials will get lost in the storm.  A strong and consistent marketing message that speaks to the question “what’s in it for me?” will trump flashy design every time.

4. Ignoring your true target market.  Too many businesses operate without a good understanding of who their target market is, including how they think, and how they behave.  Without this knowledge, all marketing initiatives are just shots in the dark, and money into the fire.  With this knowledge, all leads are qualified and conversion rates soar.

5. Constantly focusing on getting new customers. Trying to keep a continuous stream of new customers walking through the door is exhausting and expensive.  Remember that each one of your customers have cost you money, so you’ll see a better return on that investment if you can keep your customers coming back.

6. Working inside your business instead of growing it.  If we’re working the cash register, ordering new stock, managing employees and opening and closing every day, who is looking at the big picture?  Many of us have fallen into this trap, and it can be a tough one to work out of.  Systemizing our business, and hiring competent staff can go a long way towards a business that runs itself – without us.

7. Hiring the wrong people for the job.  It’s much harder to focus on growing our business if we lack confidence in our employee’s abilities to do what needs to be done.  Building a business with competent, independent employees will allow us the time and freedom to work on growing our business instead of keeping it afloat.

8. Wasting money on marketing that doesn’t work.  The only mistake you can ever make in marketing is to repeat a strategy that didn’t work the first time.  It may be easy to place an ad in the local paper, but if it doesn’t bring in an acceptable return on investment you’re throwing money into the fire.  Tracking how much you spend on marketing and measuring that against the results you see from each campaign will allow you assess the effectiveness of each advertisement or strategy and decide if it is financially viable to repeat the strategy or try a new one.

If you feel like you could use a bit of help getting your head above water, we’d be happy to provide some one-on-one hand holding through our mentorship program.  Our members find it a bit easier to use the straightforward e-classes, plus the tools, templates and checklists that come with them.

Just go here for more information about the resources you gain access to when you join.

If you have any questions, you can contact us at info@profitbeforeyoupay.com as we’d be happy to help you get on the right track with the five-step process.

Best of luck!