10 Business Bad Habits That New Entrepreneurs Need To Break Now

If you are sick and tired of making a few hundred dollars of income online every month and not being able to grow from there, you may have already reviewed and analyzed your business strategies. But what if it’s your bad habits that prevent you from building a good entrepreneurial spirit?

Why can’t you get what other successful business owners are getting? There may be many reasons that you’ve tried to tackle, such as available resources, the level of investments, the location, your niche, and luck. But what if it’s just the bad habits that you need to break now in order to maximize your chances of success? Let’s discuss this.

#1 Procrastination

We all say “don’t procrastinate” but sometimes we have no other options. 

In the midst of busy daily routines, we can forget important things until later in the day when we are exhausted. Then we completely forget. Procrastination is an enemy of entrepreneurs. It can be the difference between success and failure in business. If you're not careful, procrastination can lead to missed deadlines, lost opportunities, and even bankruptcy.

If you don't feel like doing something that you should be doing, then simply that will be a missed opportunity. So kick your lazy ass by doing the following;

• What needs to be done should be done now. Recognize this. Identify the root cause. 
• Decide when you can do it. Write it down. Don’t forget the deadline.
• Make no excuse. Admit that you are a loser today. Be very annoyed that you couldn’t complete your task.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by the volume of the tasks, take some time to prioritize and focus on one thing at a time. It may take some time and effort to beat procrastination, but overcoming this bad habit will help you reach your goals faster and achieve success.

#2 Not Asking For Help

Are you silent or are you silenced? Oprah knows it’s the former in your case, not the latter, right?

There is a stigma surrounding asking for help - we are often taught to be self-sufficient and that asking for help is a sign of weakness. This couldn't be further from the truth.

Asking for help is a sign of intelligence. It shows that you are willing to admit that you don't know everything and that you are willing to learn from others.

The first step to breaking this bad habit is to know when to need help. 

We all try to tough it out and figure things out ourselves as much as we can. But when we feel we should be asking for help, we shouldn’t hesitate to do so.

If you find yourself stuck or struggling with something, reach out to your network or a trusted advisor and ask for their input. You may be surprised at how willing people are to help you if you just ask.

#3 Lacking Self-Confidence

With that said, deferring to others is a sign of lacking self-confidence. If you're always asking others for their opinion or advice, it shows that you don't trust your own judgment. After all, you need to be confident in your own ability to make decisions.

Self-doubt is hard to kick if it's ingrained within you. You can only overcome it by manifesting yourself daily. That;

• You have an exceptional talent in your own right, and it’s working so well.
• Your ideas are brilliant.
• You are confident in your own ability to make the right choices.
• You are content with all your accomplishments.
• So you don’t have to play safe all the time.

Practice positive self-talk daily, instead of dwelling on your shortcomings, focus on what you can do and what you have to offer.

#4 Being A Perfectionist

Perfectionism is a hindrance, not a help, preventing you from moving forward. It encourages you to go backward. Going backwards is good sometimes, but you need to know when to cut and move on.

Trying to do everything yourself is another recipe for disaster. Learn to delegate tasks and trust others to help you get things done. This will help relieve some of the pressure you feel to be perfect all the time.

Burnout is inevitable if you're constantly pushing yourself to be perfect. Make sure to take breaks and give yourself time to relax and rejuvenate.

Striving for perfection is a surefire way to never get anything done. If you're constantly trying to make things perfect, you'll never get anything done. Don't strive for perfection. Accept that things will never be perfect and move on.

#5 Being Disorganized

Disorganized people generally stink - both metaphorically and physically.

A messy desk, a cluttered inbox, and a chaotic schedule will only lead to frustration and lost opportunities. Missed deadlines, miscommunication, and lost profits.

Clear up your physical space. Create a system for filing papers and managing digital documents. Then, take a look at your schedule and start streamlining your tasks. 

#6 Not Prioritizing Your Time

This is a difficult one because sometimes what’s needed most is being selfless and sacrificing your time and money to help others. But your helpful attitude can easily be taken advantage of by some idiots. 

Not prioritizing their time means wasting time on tasks that are not important, or taking too long to complete tasks that are important.

Some potential clients may be pedantic, waste a lot of your time by asking 2,000 questions and make you work extra hours than you normally do. They need to know that they can’t do that - so you can be as nice as you can, but don’t be too nice. Let them go if they’re not worth doing business with. Prioritize your time and prioritize the growth of your business.

#7 Not Saying You Don’t Know

Sad losers pretend to know what they don’t know.

When you are communicating with a potential client or collaborator, and they ask you a question that you don't know the answer to. Instead of admitting that you don't know, you blurt out something that isn't exactly true, just to try and sound smarter than you actually are. That’s a sad loser’s behavior. We've all been guilty of this at one point or another, but as entrepreneurs, it's important to break this habit now.

Admitting that you don't know everything is not a sign of weakness but it's a sign of strength. It shows that you're being honest and transparent and that you're not afraid to admit when you don't have all the answers.

Honesty will go a long way in building trust relationships in business. So next time someone asks you a question that you don't know the answer to, just say so.

#8 Avoiding Risks

You can be risk-averse to keep running your small business with a regular but small income. But in order to grow, you cannot keep avoiding risks.

If you're afraid of failure, remind yourself that failure is part of the process and use it as motivation to keep going. 

The keyword is “calculated risks” - You should take some level of risks by investing money but with planning, learning, and caution. Otherwise, it would be just gambling. Running a successful business is about knowing what you’re getting into and making decisions based on data and logic. 

As with any serious endeavor that has the potential to generate real returns, growing requires some level of risk.

#9 Getting Distracted Easily

If you're trying to get work done and find yourself constantly getting sidetracked, it's time to break this bad habit. Easily distracted entrepreneurs often have trouble staying focused on tasks, which can once again, lead to missed deadlines and a decrease in productivity.

Ignore incoming calls to start with.

What makes people think they can call you on the phone whenever they feel like it? It’s not the 1970s when the only means of distance communication was via telephone. Whether business-related or personal, it doesn’t matter. No one has the right to disrupt your work without an appointment in advance. 

You may already know what you can do to avoid getting distracted while working. Things such as;

• Create a designated workspace where you can focus on your work without any distractions. Work in a quiet room. Don’t take your laptop to Starbucks unless you absolutely know that it’s the best place to concentrate.
• If you can't find a place to work where there are no distractions, try wearing noise-cancelling headphones or listening to calming music to help you focus.
• Make a designated time for social media, phone, and checking emails.
• Make use of the calendar notifications - put all your appointments and check the appointments of the day in the morning - this won’t take a minute.
• Use productivity apps that can block distracting websites and help you stay focused on what you need to do. 

#10 “Working” Too Much

Working too much will make you less productive in the long run, but not just that. You may be wasting the life that you only live once.

If you are so excited by your project that you forget to sleep, then that’s great. If you have to complete a necessary job to take your business to the next level, that sounds great too. 

But if you feel like you need to work all the time in order to be successful, that’s clearly not sustainable and can lead to burnout. 

Whether you enjoy what you're doing is the indicator, and if you don’t, then it may be time to shift. You might want to take a break, leave it completely at least for a few days and think about your life outside work.

Is your life totally dedicated to working? Is your business success more valuable than anything? Would you do whatever it takes - you don’t care if you die tomorrow - to be a successful entrepreneur? Only you can come up with the right answer for yourself.