There are so many things that can prevent a small business from being successful. We have listed 10 obstacles to small business success. Any one of these can be harmful to your small business, but it only takes one to be fatal. They are not listed in any particular order. We will list ways to combat these obstacles also.

1. Not Organized- Too many owners run their small business without a plan. You should have short-term and long-term goals. I used to have a weekly list plus a master list of things to do. It was always subject to change. Also, take care of mail daily. I have been to many small businesses and see mountains of mail.

2. Lack of Delegation- Too many owners refused or afraid of delegating. It may be they are control freaks or don’t trust employees. Both are bad and will severely limit your small business. By delegating to employees, it creates better employees and ones who will take more pride in your business. Start with delegating simple things and go from their. You will be amazed at what your employees can do.

3. Thinking Outside of the Box- If the owner’s thinking is limited, so is the chance for success. It is hard running a small business. The key is not to follow everyone else and consider choices that will be different. Once again, your employees may be able to come up with creative solutions.

4. Resistance to Change- Owners and employees do not like to change. They want to continue to do things business as usual. Times change and if you wait too late for change, your business may even fail from this obstacle by itself. It is so common for a small business to doing poorly and the owner will not make major changes. This brings me to the next obstacle.

5. Fear of Failure- Every business that tries different things will have some failures. The key is to learn from these failures to help you in the future. Too many owners just think the following. I tried something different and it did not work. Every successful person and business has failures, but they did not let it stop them from reaching their goals.

6. Service not Superior- All businesses like to think their service is great. In reality, most businesses fall far short. It not only takes meeting the customer’s expectations, but exceeding them. Superior service starts with an owner’s strong commitment and continuous follow through for it to happen.

7. Work is not Fun- Everyone has a job to do, but work can be fun. Happy employees are more productive and give better customer service. Get to know your employees and think of them as a person. Humor is a great way to relieve tension and make your employees happy to work for your small business. Hard bosses to work for have high turnover which is costly to any business.

8. Employees not Educated- Employees must be shown what to do. All employees should be educated on a consistent basis. This will result in less turnover, more productivity and more profits. Don’t think educating employees is about the first day or week.

9. Lack of Mailing List- Getting a mailing list is the best way to cut down advertising costs and increase sales and profits. Customers on a mailing list are much more likely to purchase products and services from your small business. The best ways to get customers on your mailing list is from checks and asking them for their address to be on your business mailing list. You may have to give a small incentive to get them on your list, but is definitely worth it.

10. Website not Effective- A website should either sell products or services or be used to get visitors e-mail addresses. The more you keep in contact with the people on your list, the credibility goes up and so do the sales. Many people don’t buy the first time, they visit a website. Also, having some basic info about your small business would be great also. I have seen many owners spend $2,000 or more for a website, plus a high monthly fee and not be effective. Flash can be nice, but if it takes too long to load, your website visitor is long gone. I have a website with all the bells and whistles and there were no up-front costs or contracts, less than $20 a month, and easy to do yourself. I have been able to save some of my consulting clients thousands by switching and having a more effective website leading to even more profit.

Many small businesses have one or more of these 10 obstacles hurting their business. The key is to recognize the issue and fix it, before your small business suffers.

Jerry Robertson