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Avoid These 5 Management Mistakes for Small Business Success

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Management skills are just as essential for small business owners as they are for corporate employees. They help a small business owner successfully delegate the right tasks to the right employees, and they’re ultimately what make a successful small business grow and thrive. But too many entrepreneurs don’t know what they’re doing when it comes to management.

Are you at risk of making some of the most common small business management mistakes? They include starting a small business with no formal management training and no clue how to delegate properly.

Other common management mistakes include procrastinating on important administrative tasks, discouraging feedback and ideas from employees, and failing to develop a business strategy to keep you goal-oriented in your business pursuits. Let’s take a look at some of the most common management mistakes small business owners make.

1. Going in Blind

You may not think that you need any formal training in business or management to start your own business; you’re going to be the boss, after all. But that’s exactly why formal management training is a good idea. You may not need to impress anyone to get the job, but you can still use those skills to be a better boss to your employees.

Helping your workers reach their full potential through solid management skills benefits all of you. Your employees will feel happy, engaged, and fulfilled, and you’ll all enjoy greater personal and financial success as your business flourishes thanks to your management savvy.

You don’t have to take four years out of the workforce to earn a BA in Management. You can earn the degree online while you continue to work at your day job and plan for your future life as an entrepreneur.

If you’re already running a small business and think that you could use some more management knowledge, an online program offers you the flexibility you need.

2. Not Delegating

It’s not unusual for small business owners to fall into the trap of thinking that they need to personally run the entire business single-handedly.

Entrepreneurs are especially prone to feeling that none of their employees can perform a task better than they can, and it doesn’t help that they’re emotionally invested in the success of their businesses.

But you have employees for a reason, and your business won’t thrive until you’re ready to let your employees help it thrive. Hire the right people, and then learn how to delegate.

3. Putting Off Important Administrative Tasks

When you’re an entrepreneur, you don’t have a boss breathing down your neck, keeping you on task to get things done. It’s easy to procrastinate on important administrative tasks, especially when they’re tasks you don’t particularly enjoy doing, like payroll.

You need to have the discipline to get these tasks out of the way in a timely fashion. Being busy is not the same as being productive. Make sure you accomplish at least two essential business-related tasks each day.

Choose those tasks that only you can do – tasks that others can do should be delegated to others. It helps put the important tasks first before you get sucked into answering emails, updating your business’s Facebook page, or returning calls from customers.

4. Discouraging or Ignoring Employee Feedback and Ideas

You may have many good ideas, but you don’t have a monopoly on good ideas. Not only do they have good ideas, but allowing your employees to contribute their ideas and feedback builds an atmosphere of trust where employees feel they have some level of control over their professional lives.

That’s important because it means your employees will feel a deeper sense of loyalty to your organization, and that commitment will shine through in the quality of their work.

5. Not Having a Plan

If you don’t have an overarching strategy for your business, you won’t have a clear idea of where you’re going – and it’s a lot harder to get where you’re going if you don’t even know where exactly that is.

Don’t get so caught up in the day-to-day minutiae that you fail to step back and take a look at the bigger picture. Set SMART goals but not too many and once you have a goal in mind, it will become a lot easier to recruit the right talent, delegate the right tasks to the right people, and make the right overall decisions.

Just because you’re a small business owner doesn’t mean you don’t need solid management skills. Those skills can mean the difference between the ultimate success or failure of your business venture. So do what you can to become a better manager before your business takes the hit.

HubSpot