Five Things Small Business Owners Do That Keep Them Small

I’ve never met a small business owner who wanted to stay small. On the other hand, I’ve met more than my share that do things everyday to ensure they will stay small.

So if you’re a small business owner that has been small for too long pay attention to the following five things small business owners do that keep them small and then make the change, switch it up, do something out of the ordinary.

1. Trust The Bookkeeping and Tax Reporting To A Non-Professional

   Bad bookkeeping and tax reporting is a common reason many small businesses stay small. Though the owner thinks they’re saving money, in realty they’re losing valuable information that would otherwise help their business grow. Also, improper financial reporting is a common reason businesses don’t qualify for commercial financing. If the owner doesn’t know the numbers how will anyone else? The answer is they won’t and that’s bad news. Cut costs somewhere else not in financial reporting.

2. Fail To Record All Earnings

   The phrase “under the table” makes my ears hurt. I know businesses are taxed to death and it seems everyone wants a piece of the profits but in reality the business owner is devaluing the company by not reporting the total revenues. Remember, if it’s not on paper it doesn’t exist. Show the value of the business – all of it.

3. Treat Competing Business Owners As Enemies

   Business owners can learn a lot from each other. Unfortunately, too often they’re busy competing against one another instead of listening to one another. Every one wins when business owners collaborate to share past failures, successes and gained wisdom.

4. Surround Themselves With Inferior People

   We’ve all met that business owner who has to be the smartest person in the room. Oh brother! On the other hand, the most successful business owners know that if they want to build a highly successful sustainable business they need to surround themselves with people at par or even smarter than themselves. The business owner who does this is the smartest person in the room. Two names that prove my point: Jobs and Wozniak.

5. Keep Doing What They’ve Always Done

   There’s an old adage that says if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. Sounds right but is it? Sometimes something is broken but we just don’t know it’s broken until we intentionally break it. So go ahead, identify the areas of your business that have stagnated and start over. This might include serving something off menu, taking on a client that you normally wouldn’t or revolutionizing your core product offering or a whole host of things that only you know. The point is successful business owners don’t keep doing what they’ve always done because then they’ll only get what they’ve always gotten and that’s a recipe for disaster. One word that proves my point: Kodak.