Learning from Mistakes and Experience

By: Rachel Newcombe - Updated: 10 Apr 2015 | *Discuss

 

Tweet

Whether you’re new to the gardening business world, or an old hand at running a business, the chances are they’ll be times when you make the odd mistake or misjudge a business decision. Running a business is a learning experience and, if you’re going to grow and move on, it’s best to start learning from mistakes.

Every business is guilty of making the occasional bad judgement or poor decision, but as bad as it may seem at the time, worrying about it endlessly and getting bogged down with it isn’t going to do anyone any good. If your business is to have any chance of success, you have to put mistakes behind you, move on and learn from your experience.

There are various different ways in which mistakes can be made – here are some of them, plus ideas for ways in which you could overcome your mistake and learn from your experience.

Not Doing Enough Market Research

When you’ve had a good idea for a business and are rearing to go, it’s easy to get carried away with thinking it’s a ‘brilliant idea’ and not do enough market research. Rather than doing this, it’s better to properly do your market research, analysing the current market sector and making sure that your idea really is viable.

Even if your business is up and running before you realise the error of your ways, you could still take time to do market research. In fact, when you’ve got a client base built up, it may make it even easier to find customers to survey. Understanding your clients and how your gardening business fits into the market is crucial and the information you gather could help you fully define your current role and identify opportunities for the future.

Not Having Enough Money

Even though you may have produced a detailed business plan, it’s very easy to underestimate exactly how much everything is going to cost. Setting up a new business is a very costly procedure and even the best sounding capital can get eaten up quickly.

As long as you recognise that this is an issue quickly, and before your business suffers because of it, you could make attempts to rectify the situation and gain extra funding. For example, there may be funds you could apply for, you may be able to get financial backing from various means or a short-term loan may help.

Not Recognising the Competition

It’s easy to think your business is the best thing since sliced bread, but there are likely to be other competitors already doing similar work in your area. It’s important to be aware of the competition from the outset and monitor what they’re up to, otherwise they could pull the market from under your feet.

If you aren’t as away of your competitors as you should have been from the start, then it’s not too late to recover the situation. Conduct some competitor analysis, check their advertising and promotional campaigns, use their services and generally find out what they’re doing. Then use what you learn to your advantage.

Not Coping With Supply and Demand

One of the hardest things to get right initially is coping with supply and demand. As much as you may think you’ve predicted how many units to buy in and how many you’re likely to sell, the market can be very unpredictable and it’s not unusual to find yourself left with too many items that won’t sell and not enough of others.

This is one big area where you can certainly learn from your mistakes and put it down to experience. As you develop your business and build from year-to-year you should be able to get a better feel for supply and demand, learn not to go mad with your orders and control your stock better.

Previous Page

Next Page

The Importance of Setting New Business Goals

Seeking New Ideas and Inspiration

How to Build Your Business From Year-to-Year

Developing New Market Opportunities

Title:

Miss Ms Mrs Mr Dr Rev'd Prof. Other

(never shown)

Firstname:

(never shown)

Surname:

(never shown)

Email:

(never shown)

Nickname:

(shown)

Comment:

Validate:

Enter word: