Seven reasons small businesses fail to achieve their goals

Business potentials in Africa are numerous especially in Nigeria where we have a huge population. No country progresses just on big businesses. Amazingly, small businesses are the ones that drive the economy and development of any country. However, it is common to see or hear small businesses collapse and this is as a result of factors that extinct businesses as well as surviving small businesses tend to ignore.

1. No Strategic Plans:
A unique difference between small businesses and big businesses is that big businesses are strategic planners. They have a fixed budget, laid out plans, planning cycles and they measure and review their successes, failures and performance within a stipulated time. These are the things that most small businesses lack; they have no formal and strategic marketing plan, no fixed budget and most small businesses don’t review their performance within a time range. It is impossible for small businesses to grow if they lack these attributes, which eventually leads to their failure. Remember, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

2. No Written Goals:
Most small businesses set goals in their mind; they harbour wishes and thoughts and then mistake it for goals. There is something powerful about writing your goals down – it registers in your brain. Also, some small businesses have a hazy knowledge of the goals they intend achieving within a stipulated time. Goal clarity comes from writing your goals down; it helps you become more effective in running your business. When your goals are not written down, they become unstable and could be forgotten over time.

Big businesses create and document their short, medium, long term visions and goals; and they come up with objectives to achieve their goals. A lot of small business don’t have objectives that will enable them achieve their goals because their goals are not documented. When you write your goals down, it becomes your unconscious accountability partner as you can always go back to it to remind yourself of your original intention, your strategic plans and what you should be doing. It also helps eliminate what you should not be doing.

3. Imitating Competitors:
Some businesses set goals around what they don’t need or what is not part of their original plan simply because they are emulating their competitors and want what they have. They are running a business but their actions and goals are based on what their competitors are doing or achieving. They do not realise that every business is unique and have different paths. When they begin to copy what their competitors are doing; their goals, values, personality and everything they desire will no longer be aligned and this results in failure. Stand out and dare to always be different!

4. No Market Research:
Market research helps businesses set up strategic and effective plans to penetrate and dominate the market. Some small businesses set up their business without doing a market research. This eventually leads to their downfall because they are ignorant of the needs of the masses and the effective ways to penetrate the market. It is essential to invest in a market research and run a diagnosis on the problems you intend solving, your target market, competitors etc.

5. Focus on Money:
Most small business focus on the money they expect to get from the business. Business is not about making money; business is about solving problems and meeting people’s needs. When you meet people’s needs, the money will come in abundance. Focus on how you can solve problems and the strategic marketing plan for your business. It is important to note that the strategy you use in launching or marketing your product or service is more important than the product itself.

6. Luxury Market Mind-set:
Many small businesses have the rich as their primary target. They want to sell to the rich; they offer products and services only the rich can afford. Small businesses are ignorant of the fact that luxury products are not the primary needs of man. They tend to forget that mass market products have larger target market and yields large and quicker profit. The more problems you can solve for the masses, the wealthier you get. If you sell to the masses, you live with the classes, if you sell to the classes, you live with the masses.

7. No Accountability Partner:
Most small businesses don’t have someone that propels them, motivate them and regularly review their progress. As a small businesses owner, you need a Goal Setting Coach as an accountability partner in order to achieve your business goals. A Goal Setting Coach is very crucial to the growth of a business. A lot of businesses get carried away with what their competitors are doing or with their success that they begin to go astray from their original plan or intent. A Goal Setting Coach helps you stick to your goals, keeps you in check, so that whenever there are attempts of going astray, they call you to order and make you stick to your outlined plans and objectives in order to achieve your ultimate goals.

In this regard, an easily accessible digital Goal Setting platform called The “Catalyst GoalPRO” has been created to help correct your goals setting mistakes; discover your success and failure model; avoid procrastination; and help you begin to set goals around your values, passion, wellbeing and ultimate life goals.

The Catalyst GoalPRO is an online tool that will fully enrich your business life. It is very effective in helping small businesses to successfully set goals and maximally achieve them.

Do you truly desire to live a phenomenally enriched life and achieve every goal (business and personal goals) you set? Then use The Catalyst GoalPRO! This tool, designed by Lanre Olusola (The Catalyst), takes you through the entire goal setting process, provides you with practical strategies and also eliminates mistakes you make when setting goals. Visit www.lifexone.org/product/goalpro/ for The Catalyst GoalPRO! For more enquiries, kindly contact info@olcang.com or call – 08077077000.