It's a great feeling when you see your business finally start to grow. Your hard work is finally paying off. Those long hours and other personal sacrifices you devoted deserve to be celebrated. Make sure you always celebrate your wins and even your struggles as they continue to push you as much as your accomplishments. 

With this forward momentum, you cannot sit back in your comfort zone and expect continued business growth.  

Today I'm sharing 7 Growth Mistakes Small businesses need to avoid

1.   Growing Without a Plan

If you have no idea how to grow your business, this is a sure way to guarantee that your growth will be chaotic. You should ensure that your business strategy has a specific goal to grow your business into profitability, and you need to have a solid plan for your business growth. Trying to grow without a plan is a significant risk, while there are times that you will need to conquer your fears and take a risk. If you have a plan, you can grow carefully and intentionally, and you won't be working in a defense mode, especially in the areas or things that are out of your control regarding your business. Continuing to know who you serve and the problem you solve will help you keep the right product and services in place, and without a plan, reaching your next set of goals will be more challenging.

2.   Thinking Taking The Same Actions Will Get You New Level Growth Results

A common mistake is repeatedly doing or taking actions the same way, expecting different results. Of course, once you find something that worked well, it's easy to think you should keep doing it without any adaptations for your new growth to the next level. For example, to keep reaching recent sales and profit goals, you need new ideas to keep improving your business and attracting new customers. However, many businesses thrive and grow because they make intelligent changes that bring fresh energy to their business and keep them competitive. So, you need to be aware that doing things the same way when you started your business and having some growth will not get you new results.

3.  Forget to listen to or Get Feedback

Every idea you put into place or action you take will give you Feedback, and that Feedback can help you improve what you're doing in the future.

You should listen to this important Feedback from your results, the market, and if you present it to potential clients as you work because it will help you find your ideal audience to grow with you as you continue to build a profitable business.

Monitor the results of your efforts and especially new ideas. You'll learn what works and what direction to go.

4.  Keeping the Focusing on what YOU want or a trend and Not what your clients need

Your business will have a more challenging time growing, let alone succeeding, unless you meet your client's needs and solve their problems. So you'll need to be sure you know what is going on in your market if you can improve what clients within your market want, and how to make changes that bring about a better experience. 

You need to get in touch with your ideal customer and be aware of what your competitors are doing and offering, but not try to be them and deliver what they say they do. Instead, it would help if you did what you do well by being authentically you and starting your trends. I am not a fan of trends, but I know that I would much instead be creating them than being asked to follow them. I am not talking about traditions here; I am talking about what the industry and markets say is trending based on couples' wants, not necessarily needs. 

Many businesses fail to grow because they focus on what they want to offer and do. Business owners don't look at their ideal clients in the local market to see how they can set their business apart while still delivering an exceptional client experience. As owners, we need to solve clients' problems and give them what is required instead so of a trend that will have little effect on the overall outcome.

5.   Chasing Every Idea, You Have or is Presented to You.

There are many ideas you can try in your business, but what you need to grow is a focus. You cannot afford to waste time on opportunities that don't lead anywhere. The more you grow, the more business opportunities will open up to you, and you'll need to know which ones will get you profit and results the fastest.  So make sure you focus on those with the most potential for current and future growth.

6.   Working with the Wrong People

Most business owners don't pay enough attention to who they collaborate with or associate with. You won't get the growth you want from your business if you're working with or hiring the wrong people. To succeed, you need to avoid toxic and negative people. Instead, surround yourself with people who share your growth mindset and believe in delivering value and purpose to those around them.

7.   Growing Too Fast

One of the first things many of my coaching students tell me is that they want to grow as fast as possible. To which I reply you need to ensure that you're growing the right way and for the right reasons. Too much investment, too much outsourcing, or too much of anything could bring more risk than it's worth. You want to ensure that you focus your business growth on the right things at the right time. Healthy business growth should be focused, slow, and steady is often better, and remember entrepreneurship, especially in the creative wedding industry, is a marathon, not a sprint.  The only way to succeed is by setting and achieving goals and making plans to reach those goals as you also grow as a CEO.

If you need some business growth coaching, mindset, or a confidence boost, you can grab a FABBO CHAT with me!

Any other ways to work with me are in my IG Bio, or you can send me a DM, and I'll add you to my monthly email list and keep you updated on anything special I am working on, or where I am speaking in a city close to you so we can meet (if we have not yet).