12.6 most common v2 · 2017. 12. 6. · table of contents the 12.6 most common mistakes page 1....

The 12.6 Most Common Mistakes - 1

© Bruce D. Johnson and Accelerated Growth Consulting www.AcceleratedGrowth.org

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Table of Contents

The 12.6 Most Common Mistakes Page

1. Focusing too much on creating a better thing, rather than marketing their thing

5

2. Focusing more on their personal performance than on what their people do

7

3. Hiring fast and firing slow 8

4. Investing too much time on tactical issues rather than strategic ones.

11

5. Not exploiting all of the opportunities available to them

13

6. Relying too much on their own ideas and not getting enough outside counsel/advice

16

7. Not having clearly defined and compelling differentiators

18

8. Thinking that their customers think like they think

19

9. Not having systems for everything. 21

10. Not managing cash flow well. 23

11. Not delegating well (or holding acc’table) 25

12. Not simplifying the complexity of what they do.

28

12.6 Not realizing that the greatest hindrances to success are in their heads

30





The 12.6 Most Common Mistakes That Small Business Leaders Make

Chances are you downloaded this free report because you hate losing. I’m with you. I hate losing as well. Even more, I hate making common mistakes—you know, the ones that “everyone” makes, the ones I know are mistakes—and yet I keep on making them anyways. I hate that, don’t you?

Iʼm guessing you do, too. Why? Because at our core, most of us

who are willing to step up and either start a small business or lead one are pretty competitive people. We like winning and we hate losing. So my goal in writing this report is to make sure you don’t lose. And the quickest way to make sure you start winning is to make sure you stop doing the things that are hindering you in the first place. Or to put it another way, the quickest path to creating positive change in your life and business is to subtract, before you add.

So as you read through this free report on, “The 12.6 Most Common Mistakes That Small Business Leaders Make,” I want to encourage you to avoid thinking, “Oh, I know that.” Why? Because what you know is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is what you’re doing.

As you go through each of the mistakes, I’d encourage you to take time to reflect on how each mistake has affected you and how you can avoid doing it again in the future. Then, when you’re finished reading this report, take the time to work through the questions at the end. Why? Because information without application is abortion. If you simply read this report but don’t do anything in response to what you’ve read and learned, you’ll have wasted your time—which is something neither you

nor I can afford to do.



“The quickest way to start winning at

anything is to stop doing the things that are hindering you

in the first place. Remem-

ber: subtract before you

add.”



So, without further ado, here’s my list of, “The Top 12.6 Most Common Mistakes That Small Business Leaders Make.” Note: for simplicity’s sake, I’ll often abbreviate the phrase, “small business leader,” as SBL, as in the following statement.

Common Mistake #1

Most SBLs focus too much time and energy on trying to create a better “thing,” instead of being a better marketer of that “thing.”

Most of us who start and/or lead small businesses do so because we’re usually pretty talented at doing something. The business we’re in is irrelevant. We might be great at the law or fixing cars, marketing or financial planning, consulting or writing code, leading churches or overseeing a non-profit, building homes or combining chemicals. However, what’s common amongst most of us small business leaders is that we tend to think that in order to succeed we have to have a “better thing.”

So what do we do? We invest massive amounts of time into creating a better thing. In fact, I have a client right now who is stuck in exactly this place (and trust me, I’ve informed him of this). He’s spent hundreds of hours working on his “better thing.” The truth of the matter is that his “thing” is already “better,” than what anyone else in his market has. Yet he continues to work on developing his “better thing.”

The problem of course is that it doesn’t matter if his “thing” is any better than anyone else’s—if he’s not marketing it. In other words, there are other people in his market who clearly have an inferior “thing” to his “thing,” yet they’re making money while he’s not—because he’s continuing to work on making his “thing,” better, instead of using his time to market his “thing.” Now, I’m not against creating a “better thing.” In fact, one of my more frequently requested keynotes is entitled, “Make it Remarkable: How to Turn Anything from Ordinary to Extraordinary.” So, yes, I am absolutely passionate about small business leaders creating products and services that wow us and take our breath away.

However, the common mistake that you and I need to confront is our belief that having a better “thing,” is what wins in the



“The problem, of course, is that it doesn’t matter if

our ‘thing’ is better than

anyone else’s ‘thing’—if we’re not marketing it well. At the end

of the day, the marketer wins

out over the perfectionist.”



market place. It can help, but it won’t win. It can accelerate the process, but it won’t necessarily lead to significant revenue growth. “Build it and they will come,” works well in the movies, not in real life.

So what works in real life? What works is getting up each day realizing that we must be the Marketer in Chief of our business. When we start work every day by thinking, “How can we attract more clients/customers today?” we’re on the right path.

Having said that, I’m confident a number of you will pass right by this. Why? Because, based on past experience, I’m confident that plenty of you either don’t like marketing or have negative associations related to it. In other words, even though you might intellectually agree that this first common mistake is a problem and that it’s costing you money, you won’t change your behavior. Why? Because of the way you think.

Therefore, my encouragement to you would be to wrestle with why you think that way. Why don’t you like the thought of being the Marketer in Chief of your business? Why don’t you like marketing? Why don’t you engage in more marketing activities? Or why don’t you invest more time marketing than you do in perfecting your “thing?”

At the end of the day, if you want to lead and grow your business into a larger, more profitable one, then you’re going to need to spend more time marketing your thing than you do perfecting it.

Common Mistake #2

Most SBLs focus too much on what they do, versus what their people do

One of the most difficult mental shifts that every leader has to make is the shift from focusing on what they do to focusing on what their people do. Why is this so difficult? Because what usually enables a leader to become a leader is their individual performance. Either they’ve done what they do so well that someone has asked them to lead others or they’ve started a small business on their own and done so well that they’ve needed to hire additional employees because the quality of their



“If you want to lead and grow your

business into a larger, more

profitable one, then you need to become the

Marketer in Chief of your

business.”



work has attracted more customers than they can handle themselves.

However, regardless of the path they’ve traveled toward leadership, it’s basically been about their individual performance. So what do you think happens when a rugged individualist becomes a leader? Exactly. They continue to focus their attention on their performance and their ability to lead.

However this is a huge mistake. Why? Because, by definition, a leader is someone who accomplishes work through others. In other words, a real leader doesn’t focus their attention on their own performance and the use of their leadership skills (like casting vision, building teams, creating plans, solving problems, etc.). A real leader is someone who accomplishes work through others. Or to put it another way, a real leader leverages the efforts of those they’re leading in order to accomplish a greater result than if they (the leader) had done all of the work themselves.

So how do you know if, as a small business leader, you’re guilty of this mistake? Easy. Check your schedule. Where is leadership development on it? Who are you coaching? Who are you mentoring? In other words, can you see the development of others on your calendar?

One of the best leadership-oriented companies over the past few decades has been GE. Why? It’s not just because they have a leadership training institute (that’s hard for small business leaders to replicate). It’s because the top leaders of GE actually go there to train their leaders. In fact, Jack Welch used to visit the GE training facility at Crotonville every two weeks to train his leaders—and did so for fifteen years. Roger Enrico of Pepsi spent a full third of his time in leadership development, even running his own “War College.” Yet, most SBLs invest very little time in developing their people.

This mind shift of changing one’s focus from their own performance to that of their people may not seem very significant, but it is. Regardless of how leaders have been evaluated in the past (based on their own performance), when someone becomes a leader they should be informed that from this point forward they’ll forever be evaluated on the performance of the people they lead. I can’t underestimate the importance of that last statement. So please re-read it again.



“The mark of a great leader is

that they always focus

more attention on what their

people do, than on what they

themselves do.”



In practical terms, what this means is that if the people below you on your org chart aren’t succeeding—no matter how good you may feel about your own performance—you’re not succeeding as a leader. Once you begin to own this idea that, “their success is my success and their failure is my failure,” you’re on the way to becoming a great leader and builder of talent—and your growth potential will be virtually limitless. However, if you don’t make this mental shift, your growth potential will always be a shadow of what it could be—plus, you’ll probably spend a lot of time complaining about how your employees “just don’t get it.”

Bottom line, great leaders always see their success through the effort of those whom they lead. So do you see it that way? More importantly, would your employees answer that same question with the same answer you just gave?

Common Mistake #3

Most SBLs hire too fast and fire too slow

One of the great joys of being a consultant is that I get hired to help solve problems—yet I don’t bring history or inside information to the table. In other words, as a consultant I get to bring fresh eyes to whatever issues are at hand without having anything at stake in whatever decisions are made.

Typically, during one of the initial conversations I’ll have with a client, after I’ve gotten a handle on the company and their issues, I’ll usually ask, “Why don’t you give me a letter grade for each of your key employees?” By this point, I usually have a good idea how the leader is going to rate his or her people, but occasionally I’m surprised. “A, A, B+, B, A-, D, B, A+, C, B.”

I’ll then ask about the “D” and “C” players. In most cases, my client will say, “I know I should fire them. They’re not doing their job—and haven’t for years. They whine and complain. Etc.” I then ask the obvious question, “So, why haven’t you?” (by the way, this is the best part of consulting—asking obvious questions ). And they almost always have a long list of reasons why (after all, they’ve known for awhile that they’ve needed to do this and haven’t. Therefore to justify in their minds why they haven’t done what they know they need to do, they always have a list).



“In practical terms what

this means is that if the

people below you on the org

chart aren’t succeeding—

no matter how good you may

feel about your own

performance—you’re not

succeeding as a leader.”



Typically, I’ll then spend several meetings with them where they’ll complain about their “C” and “D” players. I’ll challenge them. I’ll encourage them to do what they know they ought to do. I’ll even have them figure out economically what it’s costing them—not just in terms of the person’s salary, but in terms like lost opportunity cost, lost staff time, their lost time, increased problems and conflicts (especially with customers) and the toll it’s taking on their psyche. When you pull all of those numbers together, the cost of keeping an incompetent person on the payroll becomes huge.

Yet, still it often takes months (or longer) before the leader is willing to pull the trigger and fire the person who’s not doing their job (which almost seems comical when you’re on the outside—how can you keep someone on the payroll who isn’t doing their job?). Yet every leader I’ve coached or consulted on this issue has struggled with this. Interestingly though, when they finally let the person go, every single one of my clients has come back to me afterwards and said, “I know. I know. I should have done this a long time ago.” Exactly.

So why don’t most small business leaders do this sooner? Here are my top six reasons.

1. They tend to hire poorly. Most small business leaders haven’t been trained in how to recruit and hire top talent. They also tend to believe that it’s better to pay less to keep costs down (not calculating all of the costs I listed above), than to pay well and get top quality talent.

2. They don’t manage their people well. Most entrepreneurs don’t like to be “managed,” so in their minds they think, “Why would anyone else want to be managed?” Which is, of course, bad thinking. Employees need someone in their lives who sets clear expectations for them, coaches them for success, holds them accountable and then evaluates their performance—which includes both rewarding correct behavior and correcting incorrect behavior (i.e. good management doesn’t allow poor performance to continue until tensions are red hot).

3. They tend to make work personal. One of the great things about working in a small business is that the people who work there get to know one another. Unfortunately that also creates a corollary problem because leaders of smaller businesses tend to allow the



“Poor performers

cost you, not only in terms

of their salary, but also in

terms of lost opportunity

cost, lost staff time, more problems, increased

conflict (especially

with customers), and the toll

they take upon your soul.”



relationships they’ve developed get in the way of making good business decisions.

4. They tend to feel guilty about why it got to this point. In other words, a lot of SBLs know that they hired poorly, that they haven’t invested the time they should have invested in developing the person and they know that this person (often) has a family who depends on them. “So how can I let them go when I’ve been the one who’s failed?”

5. They tend to worry about what “everyone” else will think. How will this affect morale? Will I end up with a mutiny? How will the rest of the team respond to me afterwards? Will they be afraid of me? Etc. All of that mental anguish gets in the way of making a decision they know they should make.

6. They tend to worry about how much work they’ll have to do if they fire this person. In other words, most small business leaders work a lot of hours. So if they’re thinking about firing someone, the natural follow up thought is, “Who’s going to pick up the slack?” And for many small business leaders the answer is, “I’ll have to,” at which point they tend to justify in their minds that at least having an incompetent person in that job is better than no person. Of course, the longer they keep a poor performer in a job, the longer it’ll take to create a positive change. And the worse the situation will get.

So, if you’d like to turn this third common mistake around, I’d encourage you to write the following mantra in big bold letters on a card in front of your desk, “Hire slow, fire fast.” Taking your time to find the right person is not a waste of time (hire slow). In the mean time, learn to be a better recruiter of talent. Decide to pay better. Make training and development a regular part of your job. Be a better manager and leader of talent. And if you need to fire an employee, do it quickly (fire fast). And when that moment arrives, choose to be as generous as possible to the person you’re firing on the way out—but not for the reason you think.

A few years ago I read a line from Donald Trump who said something to the effect, “I’ve fired people in all kinds of ways. I’ve given them a year’s worth of severance. I’ve helped them get a new job. I’ve given them contacts. And I’ve kicked them out the door without anything. The one thing I’ve learned



“Write the following

mantra in big bold letters on a card in front

of your desk, “Hire slow,

fire fast.”



through all this is that regardless of how you fire someone, they all hate you.”

In other words, don’t waste your time figuring out how you can do this so someone won’t hate you. Chances are they will. Instead, be generous because that’s who you are. And the next day, when you get up and look in the mirror, you’ll know that you did the right thing at the right time in the right way—which is the best result you and I can ask for when a termination is required.

So, how do you do when it comes to recruiting talent? Are all of your people in the right seat on the right bus? Have you rated your people lately? And do you have any “C” or “D” players whom you know you need to transition out, people who’ve you’ve kept on longer than you know you should?

Common Mistake #4

Most SBLs invest too much time on day-to-day tactical issues to the detriment of long term strategic ones.

Most small business leaders have a bias for action. They like making things happen. They like activity. They like checking off boxes. They like being busy. And because of that bias, they’ve acquired a reputation for being a “make it happen” kind of person.

What so bad about that? Nothing, except when it interferes with their ability to lead and grow their business. In other words, when the siren song of day-to-day activity is too hard to resist, small business leaders end up leading their ships toward destruction—and they usually don’t even realize it—until its too late.

Using Covey’s four quadrants, strategy work is quadrant two (important, but not urgent). It’s the work that determines where a business will go. Strategy work answers the question, “What do we want to be?” Whereas tactical work answers the question, “How are we going to get there?”

Strategy work is always future-oriented. Tactical work is always present-oriented. Moreover, strategy work is always focused on



“Don’t waste your time trying to

figure out how to terminate someone so they won’t

hate you. They will. Instead,

be generous because that’s who you are.”



the big questions facing a business or organization. It seeks to answer questions like

1. Who are we? Why are we in this business and not another?

2. What programs and services will we offer? Which will we not offer? Do we need to add or subtract anything from our current offerings?

3. Who are our customers? Who is our target market? Who isn’t in our target market?

4. What makes (or will make) us different than our competitors?

5. What geographical boundaries will we work within? Do we need to expand or contract what we’re currently doing?

6. What kinds of capabilities and resources will be necessary to succeed?

7. What kind of culture do we want to create to drive this organization?

8. Where will our growth opportunities be in the future?9. How do we want to be positioned in our marketplace?10.What assumptions do we make about our internal and

external environments?11.How fast do we want to grow?

These are not secondary questions that can be put off. Nor are they the kinds of questions that someone else can answer for you. These are the kinds of questions that are at the very heart or core of any business, including yours. So, unless you create the time and space in your schedule to answer them, your lack of answering them will hinder your potential.

That’s why it’s so critical that you force yourself to regularly step back from your business’ day-to-day activities and carve out space to do good old-fashioned strategy work. It’s in that time and space where you’ll make the key decisions that’ll lead your company/business into its next growth phase.

At some point you’ve got to admit that you can’t create greatness on the fly. It takes time and process. And in order to do that, you’ve got to regularly remove yourself from most of the day-to-day operations of your business.

To get started, I’d encourage you to begin with at least a half day per week. Block this time out on your schedule like any other meeting. Refuse to buy into the myth that you can’t do this. You’re the person in charge. You have complete control



“Strategy work always

answers the question,

‘What do we want to be?’

Whereas tactical work answers the

question, ‘How are we going to

get there.’ Strategy work

is always future-

oriented. Whereas

tactical work is always

present-oriented.”



over your schedule. And the most valuable contribution you make to your business is found in your thinking, not your doing.

One final thought on this issue. One of the great side benefits of making this change is that when most of your time is spent on strategic issues vs. tactical ones, you get to have a life again. Since your work is primarily future-oriented, you won’t be stressed out by work that has to get done in the next thirty minutes or the next three days. Plus, the next time you’re at a conference, you won’t be one of those unfortunate souls rushing out into the hallway to take a phone call. Come to think about it, that alone is worth something!

So how much time do you spend on strategic work each week? Do you have a well thought out strategic framework that guides your decision making each week? Have you answered all of the questions listed earlier in this section? And finally, do you know what the top three to five most important decisions are that you need to make this year that’ll have the greatest impact on your business? How about over the next quarter? Or this month?

Common Mistake #5Most SBLs don’t exploit enough opportunities available to them

Finding a routine is both a blessing and a curse. It’s blessing because it can increase efficiencies. However, it’s a curse because it tends to stifle creativity, innovation and growth. Once a business begins to achieve a steady stream of results from it’s activities (like a predictable sales volume), the natural response to that is to want to ride those results for as long as possible.

Unfortunately, there are two glaring problems with this kind of thinking.

1. All rides, by definition, eventually end (just as all waves eventually crash). Regardless of the metaphor, nothing lasts forever.

2. The returns you’re currently receiving are not necessarily the total of all you could be receiving.

This is one of the inherent problems with goal setting. (Note: I’m not against goal setting. In fact, I’m a big fan. However, there are some inherent problems with goals, just as there are



“One of the great side benefits of

making this change is that when most of your time is

spent on strategic

issues vs. tactical ones,

you get to have a life

again!”



with everything else). So what’s the major inherent problem I see with goal setting? From my perspective, it’s that it can limit our imagination as to what’s possible.

For example, let’s say you’re a typical small business and a good healthy growth rate in your industry might be 10%. Being bold, you say, “This year, we’re going to double the national average! We’re going to grow by 20%”, which would be incredible! However, what you’ll probably never know, with a 20% growth goal in front of you, is whether you might have been able to grow by 32% or 57%. The reason I say that you’ll probably never know is because, if you’re like most small businesses, you’ll simply develop and try just enough opportunities to hit your goal.

But what if you changed that around? What if you set out to capture as many opportunities as you possibly could over the next twelve months? Instead of setting a goal (20%), what if you looked at everything you’re doing and asked, “If we tried everything we could to exploit all of the opportunities in front of us, what results might we attain?” Then aggregate those results together and set your goal.

Let me give you a couple of examples. First, the vast majority of small businesses are not receiving everything they can from their current customers. A classic illustration of this would be the upsell. We’ve all experienced the, “Would you like fries with that?” phenomenon. We may even make fun of it. But do you realize that the upsell at McDonald’s adds about 30% to their revenue. You did catch that number, didn’t you? Clearly, 30% is something you can take to the bank.

Another example. My eldest daughter, Chelsea, worked her way through college serving at Ruby Tuesdays. Within a few weeks she was their top sales person (and remained there or in the running every week she worked there). Why? For a number of reasons, but one is that she’s a master of the upsell.

She figured out early on that most servers don’t move a whole lot of appetizers (an upsell) because they wait until they bring the drink order back to the table, which is too late. Why? Because by that time, customers are ready to order their meals. Moreover, she also realized that you shouldn’t ask, “Would you like some appetizers?” Instead she suggested a few appetizers to her customers (the upsell) and low and behold, guess what? She moved more appetizers than anyone else at that restaurant



“The problem with goal

setting is that it often limits

our imagination as

to what’s possible.”



(which also resulted in higher tips for her and more revenue for the restaurant).

Here’s the point. For all of the bright MBAs that Ruby Tuesdays has in their corporate offices, brainstorming ideas on how to increase revenues, they’ve completely missed out on developing a successful upsell training module for their servers. That one idea is a golden opportunity sitting right in front of them that could radically increase their profits that they’re not taking advantage of. And they’re not the only ones. Every business has plenty of opportunities in front of them that they’re not seizing—or not seizing as well as they could—especially with their existing customers.

Now, the upsell is just one tactic for exploiting opportunities. What about all of the other opportunities in front of you? Are you exploiting all of them? Are you exploiting all of the opportunities you have with referrals? Or with PR? Or with continuity programs? Or with creating packages of your services (like silver, gold and platinum levels)? Or with discounts? Or with loyalty programs? Or with joint ventures? Or with keep in touch strategies? Or with . . . ?

If you want to accelerate the growth of your business, then I think you’ll want to carve out time to make sure you wrestle with a variety of different kinds of strategies and tactics which you can use to attract, retain and upgrade more and more of your customers/clients. There are always more opportunities for growth out there than any company is taking advantage of.

So how are you doing at this? What are the top ten opportunities you could seize that you’re not currently? Which ones should you seize in the next thirty or sixty days? And which ones would help your business become more remarkable and profitable?

Common Mistake #6

Most SBLs don’t get enough outside counsel and advice

Inherent in the psyche of an entrepreneur is the willingness to take risks that others aren’t willing to take (i.e. most people aren’t willing to give up the security of a regular paycheck).



“Every business

leader has plenty of

opportunities in front of them that

they’re not seizing as

well as they could—

especially with existing customers.”



However what drives that willingness to take those risks is typically an unbelievably high sense of self-confidence about one’s ability to make something happen. And, if that entrepreneur is successful, their sense of self-confidence tends to grow even stronger.

However, what gets a leader to one level is rarely the same thing that takes them to the next. Or to put it another way, one of the downsides to this strength of rugged individualism is that it often makes small business owners and senior executives somewhat resistant to seeking outside counsel and advice—which is a problem.

Even worse, they almost always wait until things are so bad that they have no other recourse than to call in someone from the outside to help them fix what is now a major mess. Fortunately, there is an alternative.

The alternative scenario is to start seeking outside counsel and advice early on from those who know what the next stages look like (so you can avoid the common mistakes, that are, in most cases, rather predictable). Furthermore, outside counsel and advice givers (like coaches and consultants) tend to have a more objective viewpoint. And because they’re not involved in the day-to-day operations of your business, they have an ability to see what you often can’t.

For example, shortly after I met one of my now longtime clients I said, “Well, based on what you just told me, it seems that your business model is all wrong. You call this the core, but your profit margins are too small here. Again, based on what you just told me, you really ought to consider reformulating your strategy and making “B” your core, where you have more margin, require fewer resources and could possibly have a larger market share.”

At that point, the client simply said, “You know what, you’re right.” I wish I could say these conversations happen because we consultants are so brilliant, but that would be incorrect. The reality is that true outside counsel always brings at least two things to the table—expertise and distance. We have the ability to see things not just because we know things that others don’t, but also because we’re not engaged in the day-to-day operations of our clients. Or as I like to say, “We have the ability to see more clearly because we have no dogs in the fight.”



“What allows entrepreneurs

to take great risks is their

self-confidence—their belief

in their ability to make things

happen. However, that

same self-confidence becomes a

liability when it hinders

them from seeking outside

counsel and advice.”



And getting expert outside counsel and advice isn’t just for people who aren’t winning. Virtually every great athlete has a coach. Not because they’re losers or failures. But because they know that to keep on winning they need someone outside of themselves to help them achieve their full potential. So if professional athletes and business leaders (like Steve Jobs)need a coach, what makes you think you don’t?

For any of us, assuming that we can do it all alone, or that we can figure it out all by ourselves, is just foolish thinking. The wiser option, for those who want to create a fast growing business, is to get outside counsel now. To not wait until things get so bad. To instead, get the counsel of others who can see things you can’t and who can help you navigate the treacherous journey toward growth.

In micro small businesses (under ten employees), this often means bringing in a business coach. In mid-size small businesses (10-49 employees) this often means bringing in a consultant/coach. And in larger small businesses (50+ employees), this usually means bringing in a combination of board members, consultants and coaches. However, regardless of how you arrange getting outside counsel for your business, the key is that you make sure you have it. Believing that you have all the answers is the surest path to deception and destruction.

So who are your coaches, consultants, advisors, and counselors? Who do you seek advice from who has been where you haven’t (your next stage of growth)? Do you rely too much on your own ideas? Or are you humble enough to admit that you need outside counsel and advice? It really doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that anyone can get where they want to go faster, if they have the right person/people guiding them.

Common Mistake #7

Most SBLS don’t clearly differentiate their businesses

Probably the single most important question that any business has to ask and answer is, “Why should anyone choose to do business with us as opposed to any and every other competitor



“Getting expert outside

counsel and advice isn’t

just for people who aren’t

winning. Virtually

every athlete has a coach

because they know they

need someone else outside of

them to help them reach

their full potential.”



in our market space?” While that question might be simple to ask, it’s incredibly difficult to answer. And the reality is, most small businesses never really answer it—or answer it well.

While you may think that your Chinese restaurant (or whatever business you’re in) is unique because it’s your business, you’re wrong. As far as most dining customers are concerned, your Chinese restaurant is probably just like every other Chinese restaurant (or whatever business you’re in) in town. There’s no differentiation in their minds. And it is in that last phrase that you and I find the critical phrase we need to own as small business leaders, “in their minds.”

Differentiation isn’t found in our minds, it’s found in our customers’ and potential customers’ minds. What that means is that subtle differentiation isn’t differentiation. Doing something a little bit different isn’t remarkable. What’s remarkable, if we want to create great word of mouth or viral marketing, is to do something that’s dramatically different.

No one confuses Cirque du Soleil with Ringling Brothers. No one confuses a Mac with a PC. No one confuses Southwest with American Airlines. No one confuses an iPod with a Zune. No one confuses Target with Walmart. No one confuses a Four Seasons with a Mariott. And no one confuses Emeril Lagasse with Rachel Ray.

All of those listed above have clear staked out positions in customer’s minds. And it’s those differences that make us loyal fans. For example, I’m a Mac guy. I’ve been a Mac guy since the early 80’s. In fact, I even used one of the original Lisa’s (the precursor to the Mac). So, I’m clearly a fan. But I’m not alone. There are millions of us Mac users who would never ever think of switching. Why? Because the difference is too dramatic. We cannot be bought.

Isn’t that what you want from your customers? Don’t you want them to say, “I can’t be bought.” Don’t you want them to be loyal and choose you every time they want to purchase something in your market space? Absolutely. If you do, then you’ll want to make sure that everything you do creates a sense of differentiation from your competition.

Even the title of this free report was designed for this purpose. Everyone does “Top Ten” lists. Some might even do a list of the top dozen of something. But who do you know who’s ever written a top 12.6 list of anything? No one, which is the point,



“Differentiation isn’t found in

our minds, it’s found in our

customers’ and potential

customers’ minds. What this means is

that subtle differentiation

isn’t differentiation

at all. What your business

does has got to be dramatically

different.”



right? Regardless of whether you feel it’s hokey or not, is irrelevant. Chances are you’ll remember it.

In fact, there’s a high probability you’ll even tell some other people this week, “You won’t believe this. I downloaded a free report the other day from this guy who titled it, ‘The 12.6 Most Common Mistakes That Small Business Leaders Make.’ Can you believe that? 12.6? Who does he think he’s kidding?”

No one. But try not to think 12.6? You can’t do it. Why? Because it’s different. It’s catchy. In fact, some of you will even start titling some of your work with odd-ball numbers as well. Why? Because it’s different. Of course, if everyone starts coming up with, “The 7.4 Reasons to do X,” then the new different will be the old standard (i.e. here’s my, “Top Ten,” list ).

Differentiation rules. So, how is your business different than all of your competitors? Better yet, how is your business so dramatically different than all of your competitors that it’s obvious to everyone? Finally, how would your customers answer the previous question? If their answer isn’t the same as yours, you’ve got work to do.

Common Mistake #8

Most SBLs don’t think like customers think

Quickly, what are your potential customers’ top five problems? If you’re not sure, when was the last time you asked them what their major problems were/are? If you’re like most small business leaders, it’s been awhile. And that’s a problem. Why? Because assuming you know what they need is rarely wise.

I remember being at a conference back in the mid-90’s when Len Schlesinger (who's currently the President of Babson College) soldered this idea into my brain forever. At the time, Len was still teaching at Harvard and one of the stories he told was about a time when he and a few of his friends decided to open up a soup and sandwich shop in town (if my memory serves me correctly).

At one point, they were talking about how to make some changes to their menu when someone suggested that they offer gazpacho (a cold soup for those of you who aren’t familiar with gazpacho). Their thinking was that the Harvard area was made



“If you want to create great

customer loyalty, you’ll want to make

sure that everything

you doe creates a sense

of differentiation

from your competition. Just because

it’s your business

doesn’t make you

dramatically different.”



up of highly educated people who would be interested in a more "refined" kind of soup experience. Everyone agreed and they added gazpacho to their menu.

Unfortunately, the product launch failed miserably. What Len and his partners quickly learned from that experience was that Bostonians don't like COLD soup—and they especially don't like it in the WINTER. Now, think about this. Len and his friends were (and are) very bright people. They knew all about customer service (it's what Len taught and spoke about around the country). And they all had a pretty good "feel" for their customers. But despite their innate intelligence and their knowledge of customer service and their customers, they still blew it. Why?

Len’s answer (and one of the best lines I’ve ever heard from an executive) was, "What we learned from that experience is that executives talking to other executives about what customers want is ridiculous." I've never forgotten that line. In fact, you may want to write it down someplace yourself.

If you need further proof, Bains and Company did a research project covering 362 companies and found out that while 80% of those companies surveyed believed they provided a “superior experience” for their customers, only 8% of their customers agreed. In other words, not only are we not great at knowing what they need, we’re not even great at reading how they feel about doing business with us.

Bottom line, it’s foolish for any small business leader to assume that they know how their customers’ think. The reality is, most of us think like us. And we like to think that everyone else thinks like we do. But how do we know for sure what our customers think? Or want? Or feel? Apart from real data, the record is pretty clear. We’re not real good at this. What we need to become great at is gathering data, accurately analyzing that data and then testing, testing, testing until we get optimal results.

So, how are you doing on this issue? Are you a data or survey junkie? Do you regularly test, test, test? Do you spend time getting to know how your customers’ think? Etc. I hope so because, “Executives talking to other executives about what customers want is ridiculous.”



“Len’s answer was (and it’s

one of the best lines I’ve ever heard from an

executive), “What we

learned from that experience

is that executives talking to

other executives

about what customers

want is ridiculous.”



Common Mistake #9

Most SBLS don’t create systems for everything

One of the common attributes among successful small business owners and senior executives is that they tend to be action-oriented people. They don’t spend a lot of time thinking, designing and preparing for what they’re going to do—they do it. And that one key attribute is probably responsible for a significant amount of their company’s success.

However, there are also some significant downsides to that strength. For example, as a business grows, it almost always requires additional people to carry out the increased activity of that business. But most of the people who will be hired by that leader will never act or think like that leader (if they did, they’d have their own businesses), which creates a predictable set of problems—chief amongst them being frustration and anger on the leader’s behalf.

I’m sure you can relate. You’ve probably thought one or more of the following thoughts (on more than one occasion). “They should have known better.” “Do they need me to do everything for them?” “Wasn’t the answer obvious?” “It’s clear to me, they can’t do anything right!” In other words, what seems so obvious to us, isn’t to them. And unfortunately, unless your intellectual property gets systemized, it never will be.

Another downside to not creating systems is that, not only do you get frustrated, but your employees get frustrated as well. My experience has been that most employees actually want to do their jobs well. However, when it’s not clear what they’re supposed to do or how they’re supposed to do it, etc. then they get frustrated as well. In which case we’re frustrated that they’re not getting their job done and they’re frustrated that we haven’t clearly communicated to them what our expectations are, as well as how they should do what we want them to do.

However there’s an even more significant downside to not creating systems. If you don’t have everything systemized what do you do when a key employee gets sick? Or goes on vacation? Or takes another job? Or worse yet, dies suddenly? What do you do then? If all of their intellectual property is left in their head, you’re in massive trouble.



“You’ve got to stop hoping

that your employees will

think and act like you. If

they did, they’d all be

running their own

businesses.”



Now, my guess is that you’re not unfamiliar with the concept of systems—in fact, most of the small business leaders I know are. However when I ask to see their playbook, they usually get rather quiet. It’s one thing to comprehend a concept; it’s another to actually implement it.

But, let’s be honest, the real downside for us as small business leaders is that by not creating more and better systems, we have to work a whole lot harder and longer. The common complaint I hear from SBLs is, “But we just don’t have enough time to create systems!” To which my response is always, “Which is why you have to make the time to do it because if you don’t, you’ll never have the time.”

Small business leaders fight this all the time. Yet, it is essential to do if you want to grow your business. And when I’m talking about systems, I’m talking about systemizing everything from the way you make coffee to the way you process an order, from the way you update your website to the way you process a purchase order, from the way you lead a meeting to the way you prospect a new client. Everything you do is a system. So take what’s in your head (and every other employee’s head), and commit it to paper so anyone can follow it.

Now, if you’re thinking, “This seems rather restrictive,” you’re both right and wrong. Creating systems isn’t about restricting behavior it’s about creating a consistency of experience for your customers and execution for your employees. As a small business leader you don’t want every frontline person making it up on the fly. Every one of your customers needs to have a consistently remarkable experience every time they come in contact with your business.

On the other hand, once a system is in place, it’s always ripe for a makeover. In other words, don’t let your systems be restrictive. Change them. Just make sure the changes are intentional. Measure the results. And if the results are better than the previous system, make the new system version 2.0.

Oh, and by the way, if you’re thinking, “But our business is different. What we do can’t be systemized,” you’re wrong. Everything is a system. How you think and approach a problem is a system. How you go about creating something is a system. How you try to sell something is a system. How you lead a team or hire an employee is a system. Everything you do is a system. Just because you haven’t committed something to paper, doesn’t mean it’s not a system.



“Beyond eliminating

employer-employee

frustrations, systemizing

your business is critical

because, what do you do

when a key employee gets

sick? Or when they go on

vacation? Or when they take

another job? You literally

can’t afford to leave IP in

anyone’s head.”



But, the good news is that as soon as you start creating systems for everything your business does, you’ll begin making steps toward having a life again. Why? Because you won’t be as necessary any longer. And when you’re no longer as necessary for the day-to-day operations of your business (meaning others have to take over virtually all of the tasks that need to be completed today), you’ll be able to focus your attention on what’s needed for the future—which will allow you to grow your business faster and more profitably.

So how are you doing at creating systems? Do you have a playbook that lists every activity and how to do that activity so that anyone new could figure out what to do? And finally, can you be out of the office for an entire week and never have to check email or call in to the office?

Common Mistake #10

Most SBLs don’t manage cash flow very well

As I was getting ready to launch my consulting company, I had the privilege, due to the coordination of a good family friend, to spend a weekend with Ken and Margie Blanchard at Cornell University. After breakfast on Sunday morning I asked Margie, “If you could reduce down everything we’ve talked about and give me one piece of advice, what would that be?”

Now, most of the people I know would probably sit back in their seat, think for a moment, and say something like, “Well Bruce, that’s a difficult question to answer. There are so many options. Yada, yada, yada.” But Margie didn’t miss a beat. Her immediate and emphatic answer was, “Low overhead!” I love that. In fact, that answer still makes me laugh to this day—and she was right.

More small businesses get into trouble and close because of poor capitalization and mismanagement of cash flow than just about anything else. In essence her advice to me was, “Make sure you minimize your fixed costs because it’s difficult to manage them when your revenue stream isn’t predictable.”

This really is critical. One of my recurring observations in working with small business leaders is that most of them aren’t very good at managing cash flow. From creating budgets to managing them, from predicting cash cycles to anticipating



“The good news is that as

soon as you start creating

systems for everything

your business does, you’ll

begin making steps toward having a life

again.”



expenses, and from raising capital to creating reserves, it’s often a black hole.

In fact, here are a couple of quick tests for you. Note: No cheating or looking at your financials in order to answer the following questions. Plus, you can alter the time frames below based on your type of business (whether the time frame for reports should be daily, weekly or monthly). But I think you get the gist.

1. How much revenue did you take in yesterday? Last week? Last month?

2. What were your expenses yesterday? Last week? Last month?

3. Do you get either a daily or weekly set of financial reports? (Monthly is too late)

4. Do you know what your predicted revenue and expenses are for next week? Next month? Next quarter?

5. Do you make daily or weekly changes based on what your numbers say?

6. Do you have between three and five metrics you use to evaluate the financial health of your business?

7. Do you budget based on when expenses occur or simply divide an annual amount per category by 12?

8. Do you have a reservoir of capital set aside for protection during low cash flow months and for creating the opportunity to take advantage of opportunities when they arise?

We could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. One of the major mistakes small business leaders make is that they often tend to forget that they need to be skilled at managing the money. They can hire accountants and bookkeepers, but they still need to manage the money.

At the end of the day, small businesses can’t continue to exist without a positive cash flow. Big Auto can. Small businesses can’t. It all comes down to cash flow. Or as we learned in B-school, “Cash flow is king.” And no one is more responsible for this than the senior leader/executive/business owner. This responsibility cannot be delegated away. Others can enter numbers and run reports, but the person at the top of a small business must own the management of cash flow.

At its core, there are three primary reasons for having a small business (otherwise, why endure the stress). One is to extract money. Two is to extract time. And three is to make a



“More small businesses get

into trouble and close because of

poor capitalization

and mismanagement

of their cash flow than just

about anything else. This is why

you can’t delegate away managing the

money.”



difference. Apart from managing the money, it’s pretty difficult to accomplish number one. So may I encourage you to listen to Margie’s advice. She’s built a great small business (The Ken Blanchard Companies) into a significant national organization—so she knows what she’s talking about. You can literally take her advice to the bank!

So how are you at managing the money? Do you have your own set of metrics you continually watch? Do you make changes based on what those numbers are telling you? And finally, if I were to ask your accountant, would he or she say that you manage cash flow well?

Common Mistake #11

Most SBLs don’t delegate well (or hold their people accountable) I doubt the concept of delegation is a new for you. In fact, most of the small business leaders I know all believe in the concept and declare that delegation is what they want to do more of. However, they don’t. To a tee, they almost all struggle with delegation. Some of them may dump, but very few of them delegate well. So why?

Well one of the main reasons is because, as we’ve seen, the very same strengths that enable a small business owner or senior executive to launch a successful small business are often the very same “strengths” which hinder their businesses from growing. For example, most successful small business leaders are self-reliant, they have an innate ability to make things happen, they can work countless hours without fatigue, and they can do multiple tasks at a very high level.

Then, as their business grows, and they begin to hire employees to do more of the work of the business, you know what happens. Since very few people in the workforce can match the standards, passion and abilities of an entrepreneurial leader (otherwise they’d be leading their own companies), the entrepreneurial leader often continues to do the work they say they’d like to hire others to do. In fact, the number one comment I hear from small business leaders about this issue is, “It’s just easier and faster if I do it.”



“At its core, there are three

reasons for having a small business. One

is to extract money. Two is

to extract time. And three is to

make a difference.

Apart from managing the

money, it’s pretty difficult to accomplish number one.”



With that kind of attitude is it any wonder why small business leaders frequently wrestle with delegating? Not at all! What makes this even worse, is that it’s a violation of what a leader should be doing (remember common mistake number two). In other words, as a business leader your job is not to focus on what you do, but on what the people whom you’re leading are doing.

So the first reason that small business leaders wrestle with delegating is that their standards are too high. The second is because they think that the speed of getting something done today is more important than training someone else to do the work. And the third is because it’s a violation of how a leader should think.

To explain that last statement, let me share with you a quick illustration of what I’m talking about. When I left my previous job, I picked up a new hobby—cooking (i.e. I finally had a life and some time to do something other than work). Shortly after the first Thanksgiving meal where I did the coordinating (at my mother’s house), my mother made the following comment. “You are amazing (that’s what mother are supposed to say). Not only was the food great, but you also got everyone involved in helping put the meal together. How did you do that?”

Since it wasn’t an intentional act, I thought about it for a moment and then made the following statement to my mother, “Mom, the only answer I can come up with is that’s just how I think. As a leader the first question on my mind is always, ‘Who else can I get to do this?’ So as I would see someone walking through the kitchen I’d say, ‘Hey, Shane can you come over here and help cut this?’ or ‘Hey, Brooke, would you mind mixing this?’ It really wasn’t intentional. It’s just the way I think.”

I hope you caught the key question in that story. In fact, if you choose to not practice any other idea in this report—other than this one, this one question could radically change your life as a business leader. So did you catch it? I hope so. If not, the key question was, “Who else can I get to do this?” If you would ask that question every time there is a task in front of you, you’d be amazed at how much better you’d get at delegating.

Now, this report isn’t meant to be an in-depth treatise on each of the 12.6 common mistakes, but here are a couple of key thoughts about the subject of delegating to get you started (or restarted )



“Most small business

leaders are terrible at

delegating. In fact, the

number one comment I hear from

SBLS on this issue is, “It’s

just easier and faster if I do it

myself.”



1. Delegating is not the same thing as dumping. Simply telling someone that they need to do something (or assigning it to them) is not delegating.

2. Delegating is about

a. Assigning a task

b. Communicating expectations

c. Ensuring they have the skills and resources to accomplish it

d. Determining the level of input and coaching they need from you to be successful, and

e. Setting up joint accountabilities

3. Delegating is about active participation. It’s about encouraging, coaching and holding people accountable.

4. Delegating is not about perfection. No one gets it right the first time. Expecting perfection will kill any chance of developing better employees.

5. Delegating is about following this rule, “When an employee can do a task at eighty percent of what you can do, that’s good enough.” Think long term. The more you let them try, take risks, fail and learn, the better they’ll be and the better leader you’ll be.

So, how are you doing at delegating? Are you systematically trying to get everything you can off of your plate? Have you outsourced or hired employees to do all of the administrative work in your life? Do you think, “Who else can I get to do this?” every day with every task? And do you dump? Or do you delegate?

Common Mistake #12

Most SBLs don’t reduce complexity to simplic-ity

Whenever any business grows, there are a number of typical growth problem points based on the number of employees. For example, when a small business comes to life and it’s just the entrepreneur and one or two employees, everything is very simple. There are no manuals. No policies and procedures. No formal structures. If an employee has a question, they simply ask, “The Boss.”



“As a leader, every day

you’re working, you

ought to be asking the question,

“Who else can I get to

do this?’ The more you ask it, the better you’ll get at

delegating and

leveraging your

employees’ time and talent.”



However, whenever you continue to add more pieces to any system, the system’s increase isn’t just about addition, it’s about multiplication. For example, with three employees, there are just three lines of communication (A to A, A to C and B to C). When you add a fourth person, you aren’t just adding one more line of communication you’re adding three more lines for a total of six (A to B, A to C, A to D, B to C, B to D, and C to D). That just for going from three to four employees, what do you think happens when you move to ten or twenty or fifty or 99 employees? And then we wonder, “Why is everything so complex?”

One of my observations about small business environments is that complexity really starts to kick in when employee number eight is hired. From number eight on through number 99 (the SBA’s upper number for small businesses), it just gets more and more complex. Communication gets more difficult. More and more things fall through the cracks. “Everyone” can’t keep track of “everything” anymore. The collegiality of the early days is long gone. The entrepreneur is maxed out on their leadership and management abilities, etc. It just gets messy from eight on.

It’s also gets really messy when a business moves to 20, 50 or 80 employees. Every new employee threshold creates immense amounts of complexity. New systems have to be established. New policy and procedures have to be put in place. More meetings need to occur in order to get “anything” done. Planning cycles have to be observed. New structures have to be put in place. Everything gets more complex. Nothing is simple. And that’s where you, the senior leader need to rise to the occasion and rise above the complexity.

As your small business grows, and the complexity about everything increases, it is the job of the senior leader to reduce everything down to its irreducible minimum. It’s your job to stand up and say, “Here are the three (or five) things we’re going to do this year.” Yes, you’re actually going to do 27, 438 things, but you need to reduce all of those things to three or five major key initiatives. Your business needs simplicity.

You need to be able to say to all of your employees something like this, “Here’s what we’re going to do this year. In the midst of everything we’re going to do, we’re going to accomplish five things.



“Whenever any business

grows, everything gets more complex.

Therefore it’s the job of the senior leader to rise above

all that complexity

and call everyone on

the team to a new level of simplicity.”



1. We’re going to reduce our response time on client inquires from an average of four hours to thirty minutes or less.

2. We’re going to increase revenues by 50%.

3. We’re going to reduce our product offerings by 20%, yet expand to two adjacent markets with our current product lines.

4. We’re going to create a leadership development track. And

5. We’re going to wow our customers with a remarkable customer service experience whenever they have any contact with us. Period. That’s it. That’s what we’re going to do this year. Just five things!”

Then, all year long, at every opportunity, you need to remind people of those five things, “This year, we set out to accomplish just five things . . .” And then you need to tell lots and lots of stories about those five things and the progress you’re making on them. “Hey, let me tell you about Karen and her team. In the first two months of this year, they’ve already cut our response times in half. Isn’t that incredible! In fact, two members of her team, Juan and Jocelyn came up with three ideas that alone have reduced our response times by over an hour.”

Remember, culture is always created through stories. So tell lots of them. And keep telling them. As the leader, you have to keep figuring out new ways to make what you and your people do more simple because the key to overcoming complexity is simplicity.

For example, even though you may have a full three ring binder employee policies and procedures manual, your job as the senior leader is to make employee expectations easy to remember (i.e. simple). You may want to say, “Joe, as an employee here, there are five main expectations we have of you and every employee of Acme. We expect you to

1. To smile and be positive when you’re at work—especially when a customer is nearby.

2. To do everything with integrity. If you make a mistake, own it. Your honestly will be appreciated. However, if we ever catch you lying to us, or a customer, you’ll be fired.

3. To do whatever it takes (legally) to make a customer happy.

4. To get your job done. And

5. To be a team player. To pitch in when someone needs help and to make others succeed.



Remember, culture is

always created through

stories. So tell lots of stories that take the

complexity of all the work you do and

reduce it down to its core

simplicity.”



If you do those five things, you’ll do well here.”

That’s what leaders do. They take complexity and reduce it to simplicity. Oh, and by the way, if you’re tempted to try to add more than five items to your list, you should know that any number past five usually gets lost. Occasionally, you can make it to seven, but moving to three is better. Remember, the key to creating alignment and reducing complexity in any organization is simplicity.

So how are you doing on this issue? Are you regularly taking what you do and figuring out how you can simplify it for everyone? And if not, what would be the three to five most important things for your employees to know about what you’re going to accomplish this year?

Common Mistake #12.6

Most SBLs forget that the biggest hindrances to their success are inside their heads

Working with small business leaders, I can honestly say that the major hindrances to growth aren’t usually found in their skill sets or in their business models or employees, they’re found inside their heads. In other words, it’s not the hard skills part that hinders growth as much as the soft skills. Why? Because what we think, influences how we act or behave.

For example, a common small business leader hindrance is the way they think about marketing. As I mentioned in common mistake number one, in order to be really successful as a small business, the senior leader has to become the Marketer in Chief. However, when someone hates marketing or doesn’t believe they can do it or they think that marketing is something someone else does, they’re greatly hindering the growth of their business—not because of a skill set issue, but because of a mental one.

Another common struggle for a significant number of small business leaders is their level of confidence. When someone moves from doing technical work to being the leader of a business that does technical work—that can easily foster feelings of inadequacy. Moving from a collegial small business of five or six employees to one with 20 employees can easily make



“Remember, the key to

creating alignment

and reducing complexity in

any organization

is simplicity.”



a leader feel less than competent. Let alone when they move to 50 or 80 employees and start bringing in new executives (often from mid-size or larger firms) who seem to know more than they do. In the end, leadership isn’t about knowing more than everyone else or even feeling competent—it’s about confidence. When a leader lacks confidence, “everyone” can sense it. But likewise, when they possess confidence, “everyone” can sense that as well. The former hinders growth. The later enhances it.

Another common leadership mental hindrance that many small business leaders suffer from is how they feel about taking risks and making mistakes. If a leader is afraid of taking risks or of giving employees the freedom to make mistakes, they’ll almost always hinder their company’s growth significantly. Why? Because ongoing growth almost always requires some level of risk-taking. At the same time, in order for employees to be willing to take risks, they need to know they won’t get in trouble for trying. In other words, allowing employees to take risks and make mistakes isn’t a hard skills issue; it’s soft one. It’s about a mindset and attitude.

Or let’s go back to the idea of seizing opportunities. Frequently, it’s not the generation of ideas that holds a small business back, it’s the mental blocks that hold it captive. Thoughts like, “We can’t change that?” Or, “We’ve got too much on our plates already, when will we have time to do that?” Or, “No one will listen to me (or read what I write).” Or, “I’m not a networking type of person.” Or, “There’s no way we could win that bid.” Or, “No one would want to do a joint venture with us. What do we have to offer?” Etc.

Those are all limiting beliefs. And we all have them. Yet most small business leaders don’t spend much time at all confronting them, let alone correcting them—which is a huge mistake. Without a doubt, this common mistake number 12.6 is probably the single greatest hindrance to anyone’s growth.

So, as you take a look at your life, what self-limiting beliefs do you have that hinder your ability to perform at your highest level? And which self-limiting beliefs hinder your business’ potential?

Well, there you have it, the 12.6 most common mistakes that small business leaders make (and what you can do about them). However, if you want a short list of what you should do, just turn the mistakes into positives. In other words, if you want to



“The greatest hindrances to your success,

and the success of

your business, are found not in your hands

(meaning, your skills), but in your

head. It’s your beliefs about

you (and your business) that

affect your performance

more than anything

else.”



avoid making the 12.6 most common mistakes that small business leaders make, you should

1. Focus more of your time and energy on being a marketer of your “thing,” instead of just creating a better “thing.”

2. Focus more on what your people do than on what you do.

3. Hire slow, fire fast.4. Invest more of your time on strategic issues than on

tactical ones.5. Constantly look for new opportunities to seize

(especially those right in front of you).6. Get more outside counsel and advice.7. Differentiate, differentiate, differentiate.8. Spend more time with customers. Get more data. Test,

test, test.9. Systemize everything. Don’t let IP exist in anyone’s

mind alone.10. Become an expert money manager (including keeping

your fixed costs low).11. Delegate everything you can.12. Reduce complexity by becoming a master of simplicity.

And, 12.6 Continually confront your self-limiting beliefs so that

you’re not the greatest hindrance to your business’ success.

If you’ll do those 12.6 things, there’s no doubt that you’ll accelerate the growth of your business, become more profitable and be a better leader—and, as a bonus, you’ll begin experiencing more of a life again. So, what are you waiting for?



“Even though every small

business leader has

self-limiting thoughts, most will

never take the time to

change them. And if

nothing changes, nothing

changes.”



Making it Real

1. Rate yourself, on a scale of 1 – 10 (high) on each of the common mistakes and how much they’ve affected you and your business (Be honest, no one’s grading you).

Common Mistake Grade 1-10

1. I focus too much on creating a better thing, than marketing my thing

2. I focus more on my performance than on what my people do

3. I hire fast and fire slow

4. I invest more time in tactical issues than strategic ones.

5. I haven’t exploited all of the opportunities in front of me.

6. I rely too much on me and not enough on outside counsel

7. I haven’t clearly defined an unmistakable differentiator for my business

8. I tend to think that my customers think like I like to think they think

9. I haven’t created systems for everything.

10. I don’t manage cash flow well.

11. I don’t delegate well (or hold acc’table)

12. I haven’t simplified the complexity of what we do.

12.6 I haven’t done the work I need to do to confront my self-limiting beliefs





2. Don’t get depressed. Everyone has work to do on these issues. So let’s start by looking at your three LOWEST scores. Write them in here. Note: these would be the three that you do the best at (i.e. they’re not your biggest common mistakes).

3. Now, let’s reverse that and have you pick your three HIGHEST scores (i.e. which of the 12.6 mistakes do you need to work on first).

4. Out of that list, which is the first issue you’d like to address?

5. On that one issue, what are some ideas you have of how you can turn that around?

6. What would be the three most important things you could do to start turning that one issue around?

7. Turn those ideas into a plan.





8. What were the most important ideas or concepts you came across in this free report?

9. How can you implement those ideas to help you grow yourself, as a leader, and your business?

10. With whom can you share what you learned in this report, within the next 24-48 hours?

Name:_______________________________

11. Who can you pass this free report along to (or send them to my homepage so they can get their own copy?)

12. What is the one thing you need to do within the next 24 hours in response to what you’ve read and thought about?

My one thing: _____________________________________

For questions, information or to provide feedback, please feel free to contact me through one of the means below.

Bruce D. Johnson, PresidentAccelerated Growth ConsultingP.O. Box 243Germantown, MD 20875-0243301-602-0448 (w)[email protected]

You can visit my website athttp://www.AcceleratedGrowth.org

And make sure you check out my blog regularly athttp://www.BecauseGrowthMatters.com



mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]







Avoiding the 12.6 Most Common Mistakes That Small Business Leaders Make

1. Focus more of your time and energy on being a marketer of

your “thing,” instead of just creating a better “thing.”

2. Focus more on what your people do than on what you do.

3. Hire slow, fire fast.

4. Invest more of your time on strategic issues than on tactical

ones.

5. Constantly look for new opportunities to seize (especially

those right in front of you).

6. Get more outside counsel and advice.

7. Differentiate, differentiate, differentiate.

8. Spend more time with customers. Get more data. Test, test,

test.

9. Systemize everything. Don’t let IP exist in anyone’s mind

alone.

10. Become an expert money manager (including keeping your

fixed costs low).

11. Delegate everything you can.

12. Reduce complexity by becoming a master of simplicity. And,

12.6 Continually confront your self-limiting beliefs so that you’re

not the greatest hindrance to your business’ success.



12.6 most common v2 · 2017. 12. 6. · table of contents the 12.6 most common mistakes page 1....

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