The 2 Business Blunders Every Entrepreneur Should Avoid

By Nathan Liao

In my eight-year journey as the founder and CEO of CMA Exam Academy, I have met countless other entrepreneurs. Whether in online entrepreneur groups or at conventions, trade shows, or conferences, I have swapped startup journey stories with many business owners. We have also shared our tried-and-true tips and helpful advice on overcoming the many challenges we have faced.

Reflecting on the many conversations I've had, I realized there are common mistakes and blunders that other business owners and I have all committed at some point during our entrepreneurial journeys. Here, I'll share some of these business blunders so that others do not commit them as well. Aren’t we all looking for effective new ways to grow the enterprises we have worked so hard to build?

Below are two of the most common mistakes made by business owners and why they should be avoided.

2 major entrepreneurial business blunders

Business blunder #1: Being too "salesy" with your marketing strategy

I get it. We all want our customers to make purchases so the profits keep on flowing. However, many entrepreneurs make the mistake of being too pushy with their marketing tactics. For example, they will send several “Buy now!” emails a week to their newsletter subscribers, and their company's social media timelines are just a flood of sales promotions.

It is crucial to prevent this mistake, because it can really turn away potential customers.

In my experience, it is so much more effective when I focus my marketing efforts on educating first and selling second. People don't like to be sold to. Therefore, I try to provide value 80% of the time and then ask for the sale 20% of the time.

For example, I educate consumers about the services my company offers through our blog. Our clients value the free tips we provide, and the blog also piques new website visitors' interest in possibly using our paid services.

Entrepreneurs can educate current and potential customers by producing an informational podcast for their website visitors and by sharing interesting articles related to their industry on their company’s social media channels.

They can also optimize their email marketing strategy by creating an email nurture sequence that spans three to six quarters, and by sending one email per week that provides value first and is not overly promotional. I have found that this is most effective when I send out one sales email for every seven emails that go out. However, make sure every email includes links at the bottom of the page directing people to your business’s products and services.

Business blunder #2: Not prioritizing employee engagement

So many people today are quitting their jobs because they don’t enjoy their work culture or they don’t feel appreciated. I personally have seen an entrepreneur friend’s business deal with increased internal office politics, low employee morale, and, ultimately, a mass exodus from the company just because employee engagement wasn’t top of mind.

Trust me when I say this: high turnover is a huge business blunder because it is disruptive to any business in any industry. It means spending extra time and money to find new employees and get them trained.

If business owners want to prevent turnover, it is critical to make employee engagement a primary focus. Here are some ways to do just that:

Align team members’ strengths with their projects. One way I prioritize employee engagement in my company is to align my staff members’ work responsibilities with their strengths. This helps my employees really feel like their work matters to the company. For example, one of my employees loves working with numbers and organization, so I let him handle tasks like data entry and projecting future sales.

Think of your own staff members. Is one of your employees very active on their own personal social media channels? If so, let them handle the brand’s social networks. Or, is one of your team members a talented writer? Perhaps they would love writing the company’s weekly newsletters and blog posts. It’s all about considering what each employee is passionate about and where they can really excel.

On top of this, showing your employees how their work directly impacts the business and the community you serve will help to engage them in their work. This can be done by sharing during team meetings, for instance, how their sales outreach helped secure X amount of clients in a month. Or, send out a company-wide email thanking a particular employee for their excellent customer service that helped secure repeat purchases. Recognition can boost employee morale and motivate people to continue to excel.

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Implement performance reviews. I have found that performance reviews can be very helpful in boosting employee engagement in my business. Performance reviews give me the opportunity to discuss wins and challenges, which helps my staff members feel heard, seen, and appreciated.

Monthly team-building sessions. My business also prioritizes employee engagement by hosting monthly team-building sessions. These sessions help create positive experiences among staff that nurture their bonds and strengthen their sense of community.

The key to successful team-building is to hold these sessions consistently over a long period of time, preferably on a permanent, ongoing basis—one-off sessions usually don't work. You want your team members to look forward to these regular sessions. You can conduct your team-building sessions at a trivia night, bowling alley, escape room, or another fun location.

Mentorship is key to employee engagement. Another surefire way for entrepreneurs to amplify employee engagement is to ensure their business provides mentorship opportunities. If staff members are mentored in their roles and have someone in the business to look to for advice, they will feel supported and be encouraged to stay and grow with the company.

You can promote mentoring in your company by setting up opportunities for personal growth and professional development. For example, create an internal hub where employees who have been with the company for many years can sign up to mentor new team members.

On top of this, put together a program with specific criteria that employees must meet in order to become mentors. For example, one requirement could be a minimum number of years an employee has been with the business. Other criteria could be completing an online leadership course or writing a personal essay about why they want to become a mentor. Another option is to have applicants read a respected book about mentorship and then take a quiz about the main points covered.

Consider including rewards for completing the program (like a monetary bonus), as this will also help incentivize staff members to seek out mentorship opportunities.

Improve your chances for success by avoiding business blunders

Every entrepreneur wants to do whatever they can to help their company succeed. Yet, even if you mean well, it's easy to fall into the two traps above. If you can avoid these blunders, you will improve your company's chances for success.

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