According to the Small Business Association, more than 50 % of small businesses will fail within their first five years.  And not for a lack of effort.  What , then, causes so many “great ideas” to fall flat?

In the spirit of end-of-the-year list articles, here are the top mistakes new businesses make: 

5.  Not listening to their customers:  Repeat after me, “The customer is always right.  The customer is always right.”  Very nice.  Listen to what your clients are telling you, both verbally and through their actions.  Ask for feedback.  Just because you have designed a machine that can make perfect slices of bread doesn’t mean your customers will see it that way.  Be nimble enough to adapt to your client. 

4.  Having too many cooks: Wait, didn’t you just say to always listen to your customer.  Yes, I did.  But have a spine too.  Make your own decisions.  Don’t make your business so top-heavy with management that you can’t make a decision quickly.  You shouldn’t have to form a committee to pick your nose.  And it’s probably not a good idea to take advice from your sister’s teenage boyfriend.  If he was so smart, he should be running the company. 

3.  Spending too much time on their business: A lot of people start their own business because they want to be their own boss and run their own show.  That’s fine.  But be a good boss to yourself.  Allow time for balance.  Exercise regularly.  Eat right.  Go to church.  Have a good time.  Empower others to do work in your own image.  Your business is never going to make if you’re the only one who can do it.  If you spend 20 hours a day working your business idea, you are going to burn out.  And quickly.  Count on it.

2.  Failing to measure performance:At the end of the day, it’s about results and production.  See what’s working and not working.  Feed your strengths and starve your weaknesses.  Don’t be satisifed with what was good enough yesterday.  Make it better today.

1.  Too much vision, not enough focus: You’re not a multinational corporation yet.  Stop dreaming so much.  Your business may be many things one day, but try to be good at just a few things right now.  Find your niche, and hammer the heck away at it.  The narrower and deeper the better.  Leave the visions to the visionaries.

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