Monkey Advice: 3 Pieces of Business Advice You Need to Disregard

| February 4, 2016

Monkey Advice: 3 Pieces of Business Advice You Need to Disregard

When you’re starting a new business, there are several people who would want to offer business advice. While it can’t be denied that you should accept help wherever possible, you need to take some of this business advice with a grain of salt. There are some experienced business owners who would offer suggestions that would help your business. There are others who would offer advice so bad that it would compromise your venture and damage your credibility. Here’s a list of advices that are commonly offers to entrepreneurs. You need to ignore them.

1. Keep Friends and Family Away

That sounds like legitimate business advice and to some extent, it is. You shouldn’t blindly trust your friends and family to handle a job. However, if they are a good option, it wouldn’t do you any good to disregard them. Sometimes friends can be excellent business partners. If you find that you work very well with your friend, you shouldn’t hesitate to hire them or ask for their assistance.

However, you do need to be careful. Don’t accept a relative or a friend into your company simply because of your relationship with him. Instead, consider what value they would offer your company and act accordingly. If you find that your friend is an excellent marketer but you don’t know anything about the field, it’s a good idea to hire them.

2. Don’t get too Close to Employees

Again, this sounds like sage business advice, but it really don’t work in the modern work culture. Today, companies are slowly letting go of the strict command structure. The line between boss and employee is slowly diminishing. You should make sure that you create an open and easy environment in your company. That way, all of your employees wouldn’t hesitate to contribute towards your business and offer their opinions freely.

There’s nothing wrong with being friendly with your employees. In fact, staying away would create a stilted environment in the office, which isn’t good for creativity. It’s always a good idea to cultivate a warm relationship with your team. That would allow them to be comfortable with you.

3. Consider a Wider Market

There are some people who think that the only way to grow in business is to expand the target market. For example, some people might advise you to consider a higher paying, or more lucrative market. However, that’s not always a good idea. Sometimes, businesses succeed by focusing on a small target audience and providing for their special needs.

A good example of this would be a baby clothing store. They focus on a niche market and most of them don’t expand to teenager’s clothes or something similar. They might offer maternity wear, but that’s it.

There’s nothing wrong with focusing on a niche market as the competition is low and the returns tend to be high. If you feel that your company can grow and there is room for expansion, you can explore a wider market. However, trying to expand when your company isn’t ready for it won’t be good for your venture.