All your hard work is finally paying off. It’s a dream come true when you see your business start to grow. But this dream could quickly turn into a nightmare if you’re not growing the right way.

Here are the 7 fatal mistakes small businesses often make that slow down their growth, and how you can avoid them.

1.   Growing Without a Plan

If you don’t have a solid business plan that includes how you’re going to grow, this guarantees that your growth will be chaotic. Things will change that are out of your control, and you’ll find yourself always on the defence. If you grow in a careful and controlled way, you will lead this growth and work toward your goals.

2.   Thinking the Same Actions Get the Same Results

A common mistake is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same results. Of course, once you find something that works well, you should do it again. But over time, you need new ideas to try and add to your arsenal. Many businesses become stale and stunt their growth by failing to evolve.

3.  Failing to Get Feedback

Every idea you try and action you take gives you feedback. If you don’t listen to this valuable feedback from the market, you’ll never fully grasp it. Monitor the results of your efforts and especially new ideas, and you’ll learn what works and what direction to go.

4.   Focusing on YOU and Not the Market

The success of your business doesn’t depend on you but on meeting the needs of your market. You need to know your target market well. This includes your ideal customers, your competitors, and the industry you’re operating within. Many businesses fail to grow because they don’t keep an eye on what’s happening in their market and they become out of touch.

5.   Chasing After Every Idea

There are a million ideas you can try in your business, but what you need in order to grow is focus. You can’t afford to waste time on avenues that don’t lead anywhere. You’ll encounter many business opportunities, but you need to be able to distinguish which will get you profits and results and focus on these above all others.

6.   Working with the Wrong People

Many businesses don’t pay enough attention to who their partners and associates are. If you’re working with or hiring the wrong people, you won’t grow the way you want to. Avoid toxic and negative people. Surround yourself with people who share the growth mindset and believe in delivering value to those around them.

7.   Growing Too Fast

Of course, you want to see your business grow as fast as possible, but growing too fast can cause plenty of issues. Too much investment, too much outsourcing, too much of anything brings more risk than it’s worth. Healthy business growth should be focused, slow, and steady. This is how you meet your long-term goals.

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