Are you making the same mistake 94% of all small business owners make? 

The mistake 94% of small businesses make

94% of small business focus on the wrong priority. It’s a pretty big mistake to make if you want to take your business up to the next level, but the vast majority of small businesses are making it today. So was I.

I’ve been making this mistake for the past 25 years. At first, I felt pretty bad about that, but then I wanted to see if other small businesses are making the same mistake. So I created a poll on SurveyMonkey and asked other entrepreneurs to rate their business priorities. The pie chart on the right shows the answer over 200 small businesses. Surprisingly less than 10% got this right.

What’s the focus of your small business?

I’ve been thinking about the UX (User Experience) I create for my clients in 2017. And I really got challenged by Horst Schulze, when I was fortunate enough to film the former CEO of Ritz-Carlton at a keynote speech a few weeks ago.

(You can read a bit more about that talk on my blog post: What I learned about service from a wise hotelier).

4 priorities of an excellent company

Mr. Schulze talked about the four priorities that every successful company needs to have in the right order to excel. Here they are in no particular order:

• Be efficient.
• Keep current clients.
• Make money.
• Find new customers.

When I looked at my company’s priorities, I was surprised to learn that I’ve focused on the wrong priority for over 20+ years. Don’t get me wrong all four are vital to a company, but one is more essential than the other three.

Find out if you’re wrong too – take the poll!

You can take the poll “What’s the number One priority of your business” here and see how you stack up against other small businesses. Then let me know – are you in the 94% that get it wrong or in the 6% that are doing it right?

I for one intend to shift my company to focus on the one most important priority and that change will take place over the course of the next few months.

Take the poll to see how your business compares!

UPDATE: Strictly Business, the blog of the American Society of Media Photographers just reposted this article. I’m thrilled to see that their readers are selecting the most important priority of an excellent business by a 2 to 1 margin.