I have not lived that long, but I have lived long enough to see businesses rise and fall. It hurts when a business you have invested in that hard falls.
When a business collapses, owners often blame either the employees, the economy, debts, or witchcraft. Truth is, 90% of businesses in Kenya collapse due to mismanagement by greedy owners.
Here are 5 simple ways to kill your business:
All the money is yours: the moment you make your business money your money, by putting everything in one account with no clear distinction of which one is business money and which one is yours, your business is headed to failure.
Seeing employees as a burden: employees are an integral part of your business. They are your first customers. You see them as a burden, they will see your business as a burden and before you know it, you will be left alone.
Listening to every Tom, Dick, and Harry: as a business owner, you are typically a leader. A leader doesn’t have to listen to every song of a sycophant. He/she has to be wise, to sieve through genuine concerns and those wanting to kill the business.
Not paying employees on time: nobody wants to work for free. Your employees come to work because they want to be paid. They have bills to pay and families to take care of. If they have worked, pay them.
Not giving your team room to be creative: why would you hire a smart person and then deny them the opportunity to show you how smart they are? The reason why we hire smart people is for them to make us shine as we sit back and enjoy the glory.
The above points might not apply to all businesses but I can tell you that most SMEs are dying because of this.
