1. Mistakes Not to Make Or Learning From Others

2. There are an abundant list of resources sharing examples of mistakes business make. These include Fortune, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Inc. and the list goes on. There is a common thread… here is a list from the their “view from the top”.

3. Watch the following list. It can be broken into several categories. The most important is new versus existing business. Here size doesn’t matter.

4.  Undercharging for the product or service provided  Concentrating on one only one piece  Extending credit too easily  Thinking about taxes after the fact

5.  Don’t have a plan of attack  Don’t know how to hire AND keep good employees  Don’t provide outstanding customer service

6.  Economically dependent on a small group of customers  Emotions get in the way of sound business decisions  Fail to develop (personally) as a leader or manager

7.  Trying to get rich quickly  Assuming you have no competition  Being all Business – all of the time  Setting unrealistic financial goals

8.  Having no rally point  Cutting prices  No clear marketing strategy  Not being forthright

9.  Trying to do it “all”  Starting with a large loan  Planning on making a profit right away  Spending too much at first

10.  Hiring employees not needed  Renting space not needed  Not knowing how to collect bills  Not planning for cash flow problems

11.  Choosing wrong ownership structure  Getting into debt  Not involving the family  Starting for the wrong reasons

12.  Poor management  Insufficient capital  Location  Overexpansion

13. And Finally  No website If you weren’t counting that is 35 to learn from others

14. Warning: “Not Planning” Is Not In The List

15. My Baker’s Dozen Plus Not in any priority

16. Not recognizing the 80-20 rule

17. Don’t know what they don’t know But think they know

18. Not being “visible”

19. Hiring “F”s Friends, Family, or Friends of Friends

20. Lack of branding

21. Not knowing the difference between “marketing” & “sales”

22. Putting marketing and advertising down on the priority list

23. Underestimating expenses or the opposite

24. Losing track of The core business

25. Not knowing the 3 or 4 Key drivers

26. Looking for people to tell you what you want to hear

27. Not having a personal experience base

28. Focus on short term

29. Lacking a basic management skill But too busy to learn