7 Ways We Sabotage Our Own Business Success

None of us deliberately launches a business with the aim of having it fail. Most businesses start when someone wakes up with a great idea. That person will then passionately share the idea with their nearest and dearest and experience a whole raft of mixed reactions to their amazing idea. Anything from ‘great idea, go for it’ through to ‘oh no, that is a crazy idea – don’t risk your job/money/time on that.’

How many times have we let people crush our ideas because they feel it’s too risky, or not the right time? Perhaps that’s because they never take risks and don’t want you to show them up!

And then perhaps we hear that someone else has launched the exact same product or service we thought of, and is making bucket-load of money with it. Oh how we berate ourselves.

Then we have another great idea, and the same thing happens, we let ourselves be persuaded to stay safe in our job or career; not to risk; not to try something; not to give our idea a go.

How frustrating and how tragic.

At some point in our lives, we either have to accept that even though we have great ideas, we are not courageous enough to follow them through OR we have to stop listening to the nay-sayers and to take that first brave step, and to go for it.

If you are considering starting your own business or even launching a radically new product or service, then this e-book might help you understand the pitfalls ahead and help you to be better prepared.

If you have already started a business and are suffering the inevitable ‘highs and lows’ everyone experiences when they start their own business, then don’t despair.

The following are 7 ways we ALL sabotage our business ideas so it might just help you firstly see that you are not alone, but also for those of you already in business, they may highlight which of the seven traits is holding you back.

Realise also, that not one of the 7 reasons reasons is new or insurmountable. Someone before you has already faced every single one of them.

Hopefully they are still in business, because there is no reason for them NOT to be. All 7 are simply road bumps and you can beat any of them because that’s all they are – temporary road bumps.

Sabotage reason 1: Lack of self belief – we easily let people talk us out of our idea

Sabotage reason 2: Lack of cash flow – we have no financial capital to see us through the early days

Sabotage reason 3: Failing to plan = planning to fail. We fail to create a strategy and timeline for getting started

Sabotage reason 4: Trying to do everything yourself. Partly because of sabotage reason 1 – we don’t have the financial capability to be able to take on help so we try to do everything ourselves and run out of energy

Sabotage reason 5: Talking to or taking on the wrong people. We take advice from the wrong people (watch the movie Joy); or we employ a friend or family member to do the jobs for which they don’t have the right skillset

Sabotage reason 6: Not listening to your customers. We are so hooked on our idea that we can’t take feedback and/or criticism from our potential customers

Sabotage reason 7: Failure to watch the road ahead. We get so head down trying to stay alive that we fail to see what is happening around us – perhaps someone else having the same great idea as us and beating us (again); or an opportunity that no-one else has noticed that you could take advantage of. Be alert.

Never let people steal your dreams.

‘If you quit now, quitting will become easier and easier’ (Not known)

Ann Andrews CSP – Speaker, Author, Profiler, Life Member NSANZ

Author: Lessons in leadership: 50 ways to avoid falling into the ‘Trump’ trap

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