3 Bad Business Habits + How to Break Them
Starting a business can often feel like jumping on unstable stepping stones above a lake of lava.
One wrong move and you will find yourself in trouble.
The difficulty of starting a business is only heightened by the bad business habits that many beginners make – many of which you are likely unaware of.
Some of these habits are born of the messages millennials are brought up with surrounding entrepreneurship.
What are these 3 bad habits and how can you break them?
1. Poor communication style
Millennials can go either way – either we are overconfident and demanding, or meek and tentative.
Both of these communication styles are bad habits and need to be broken.
A healthy level of confidence is crucial for a business owner. You need investors to believe in you and your ability to deliver.
But overconfidence can come across as cocky, and turn people away from doing business with you.
Millennials also have bad communication methods.
Texting 2 word-answers on the go etc is not the best way to communicate with business partners.
The advantage of instant messaging is that they are instant, but email and a phone call are still a standard more professional way to work, where no information gets lost.
Frankness can also translate into the success of your business messaging, be that interpreting the right communications via graphic material designed for you via commercial printers, or your renewed social media strategy.
How to break this habit?
Improve your social skills and be more empathetic.
In order to be successful, an entrepreneur must have the ability to communicate in a manner that evokes a strong emotional response in others, whether it is to inspire their staff to work hard, to convince investors to part with their money, or to persuade customers of the need to buy their product.
And that can only come from genuine confidence. If you want to be more confident in all aspects of your life, consider working with a top lifestyle coach; they’ll help you train your mind and change your future.
An effective network of contacts that are valuable to the business can be built by using every interaction; personal, social, and business, as an opportunity to build strong and positive relationships that will benefit the company in the longer term.
2. Assuming you can do everything best
We’ve heard it all before: Millennials are entitled, Millennials are selfish.
But the truth is, these appearances come from the fact that we want to do the best work we can.
Handing the reins over to someone else is scary – will they put in the work you’re able to put in? Will they execute your vision in the exact way you picture it?
Often, Millennial business owners will just do it themselves, rather than accepting help.
But this only leads to overworking, and, often, poorer quality work.
There are people who do parts of your business better than you. For example, AWS migration services will do a better job at migrating your data than you could yourself.
Or hiring a graphic design agency will mean your business will look professional and appealing from day 1.
Also:
Did you know that all costs related to running or promoting your business are tax-deductible, so it’s a win-win situation.
Sometimes, it’s important to accept that you aren’t the best person for the job. It can only benefit your business.
Outsourcing and hiring staff is where the real business growth happens.
How to break this habit?
Work on improving your delegation skills. Learn how to hire the best people and trust your team to do their work.
The entrepreneur must be able to delegate and trust the team around them because it is impossible to build a successful business without the help and support of others.
A successful entrepreneur has the ability to inspire those around them to work with them to achieve their vision and goals.
Motivational leaders display traits such as honesty, integrity, respect, and humility, because of this, they are trusted by those around them and achieve high levels of cooperation from others which improves chances of success.
3. Having no boundaries between work and play
The 9-5 workday is practically dead.
As if we weren’t bad enough at switching off, now there’s a pandemic that is making many of us work from home and blend work and personal lives all into one space.
It’s hard to know when to stop working, especially when it seems like there’s always more to be done.
But these loose boundaries between work and home are bad habits.
If you never switch off, how can your brain ever be up to scratch for difficult work?
It’s hard to tear yourself away from work, but rest will make you a better worker.
How to break this habit?
Crush this bad habit by setting firm boundaries. For example, finish work at 7 pm sharp – no excuses.
No working on Sundays.
Be proactive, not reactive. Know what are you doing, when, and why.
A rested brain is a powerful brain.
You’ll thank yourself later.