7 B A D B U S I N E S S H A B I T S Y O U N E E D T O AV O I D

B Y G E O F F R E Y B Y R U C H

A S A N E N T R E P R E N E U R , Y O U R J O B I S N O T T O S I M P LY R U N A B U S I N E S S , B U T T O E M B O D Y T H E E S S E N C E A N D C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S O F A L E A D E R .

T O B E A L E A D E R , Y O U N E E D T O H AV E A S P E C I F I C S E T O F C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S . Y O U N E E D T O B E B O L D , F U T U R I S T I C , O R G A N I Z E D , A N D M O S T I M P O RTA N T LY I N S P I R AT I O N A L .

B U T W H AT H A P P E N S W H E N M O R A L E I S L O W ? W H AT H A P P E N S W H E N T H I N G S D O N O T G O Y O U R WAY ?

F O R M A N Y O F U S , W E N E E D T O A C K N O W L E D G E T H E FA C T T H AT W E A R E H U M A N . W E O F T E N M A K E M I S TA K E S . T H E K E Y T O T H I S I S T O N O T R E P E AT T H E M . I T I S Y O U R J O B T O B U I L D U P O N T H E S E FA I L U R E S A N D M A K E T H E M I N T O W I N D O W S O F O P P O RT U N I T Y.

B E L O W Y O U W I L L F I N D S E V E N B A D B U S I N E S S H A B I T S Y O U W I L L N E E D T O F I X I F Y O U WA N T T O B E S U C C E S S F U L .

I N T E R N A L I Z E A N D R E F L E C T U P O N T H E S E M I S TA K E S A N D S E E H O W Y O U C A N C H A N G E F O R T H E B E T T E R M E N T A S A W H O L E .

1 . TA K I N G Y O U R A N G E R O R I R R I TAT I O N O N C O L L E A G U E S O R C L I E N T S

• Expressing your anger and irrationality in an inappropriate way either to your colleagues or your clients can hinder the success, morale, and culture of your business.

• To avoid this type of confrontation, you must teach yourself healthy ways how to handle those challenges.

• Ask yourself various questions: Why did this happen? What could I have done to prevent this? How can we build upon this problem? What are various solutions? This type of positive and strategic thinking will give you an edge in coming up with quick viable solutions that you can leverage for the future.

2 . Y O U F O C U S O N T H E N E G AT I V E S R AT H E R

T H A N T H E P O S I T I V E S

A S S TAT E D A B O V E , Y O U W I L L A LWAY S FA C E VA R I O U S U P S - A N D -D O W N S I N T H E E N T R E P R E N E U R I A L G A M E . O N E B A D H A B I T Y O U S H O U L D AV O I D I S F O C U S I N G O N W H AT G O E S W R O N G T H AT W H AT G O E S R I G H T I N T H E D AY.

F O C U S I N G O N N E G AT I V E O C C U R R E N C E S W I L L C A U S E A N I N C R E A S E I N S T R E S S , A N X I E T Y, A N D P R E S S U R E . T H I S C A N O F T E N L E A D T O N E G AT I V E C O N S E Q U E N C E S S U C H A S V E R B A L C O N F R O N TAT I O N , L A C K O F F O C U S , A N D L A C K O F S L E E P.

W H E N R U N N I N G A N E W B U S I N E S S , Y O U N E E D T O U N D E R S TA N D T H AT T H E B U S I N E S S S U C C E S S I S A S L O W P R O C E S S . A S M U C H A S Y O U WA N T T O F O C U S O N T H E N E G AT I V E S , S E E T H E M A S O P P O RT U N I T I E S F O R S U C C E S S . I N A D D I T I O N , G O B E Y O N D Y O U R P E R S P E C T I V E O F N E G AT I V E S A N D V I E W T H E P O S I T I V E S T H R O U G H O U T T H E D AY.

3 . FA I L I N G T O C O M M U N I C AT E W I T H E M P L O Y E E S O R C U S T O M E R S

E V E RY S U C C E S S F U L L E A D E R I S A B L E T O C O M M U N I C AT E O N A VA S T A M O U N T O F L E V E L S .

A N Y T Y P E O F L A C K O F C O M M U N I C AT I O N C A N L E A D T O M I S U N D E R S TA N D I N G A N D N E G AT I V E O U T C O M E S .

M A K E S U R E T H AT W H E N Y O U A R E R U N N I N G Y O U R B U S I N E S S T H AT Y O U A R E A B L E T O C O M M U N I C AT E O N A C O N S I S T E N T B A S I S .

M A K E T H O S E A R O U N D Y O U F E E L VA L U E D A N D R E C O G N I Z E D .

4 . T O O B U S Y T O S L E E P

W E H AV E A L L B E E N T H E R E , I T I S 3 : 0 0 A M A N D Y O U A R E S T I L L B U R N I N G T H E M I D N I G H T O I L .

A S M U C H A S W E C A N T H I N K W E A R E B A C K I N C O L L E G E S T U D Y I N G F O R T H AT 1 0 1 E C O N O M I C S E X A M , W E N E E D T O B E R E A L I S T I C .

T H E M O S T I M P O RTA N T T H I N G Y O U C A N D O I S TA K E C A R E O F Y O U R S E L F.

A G O O D R E S T F U L S L E E P C A N M A K E T H E B I G G E S T D I F F E R E N C E I N Y O U R P E R F O R M A N C E .

5 . I G N O R I N G M O B I L E M A R K E T I N G

R E G A R D L E S S O F Y O U R I N D U S T RY, M O B I L E M A R K E T I N G S H O U L D B E A PA RT O F Y O U R M A R K E T I N G P L A N S .

O F T E N T I M E S , M O S T S M A L L B U S I N E S S E S D O N O T H AV E M O B I L E - O P T I M I Z E D S I T E S . T H I S L E AV E S Y O U R B U S I N E S S W I T H A L O S T O P P O RT U N I T Y T O T H E M I L L I O N S A M E R I C A N S W H O U S E T H E I R S M A RT P H O N E S E V E RY S I N G L E D AY.

6 . N O T M A I N TA I N I N G Y O U R W E B S I T E

• With a million things on your plate, why would your website matter?

• When we think about Google, we want to think about search engine rankings.

• Keeping your site relevant with rich, organic, and unique content such as articles, videos, photos, or blogs will allow your business’s site to move higher over time.

• Keep in mind, your online maintenance is a process. Make sure you are consistent with this.

7 . O N LY T H I N K I N G A B O U T T O M O R R O W

• As much as we care about the present-day figures, make sure you are planning long term.

• Short term planning is incredibly beneficial especially when you are dealing with the day-to-day task of operations and management.

• But if you do not set aside time to think about the future of your company, you may just be setting yourself up for failure.

• Make sure you think about future goals. Go ahead five months, one years, five years into the future and see where you want your company to be.