1. No Marketing & Sales Strategy

Planning may be tedious, but without a solid plan for your business that includes business idea research and market potential, you will be operating in the dark. The most important plans to consider include a business plan, a financial plan, and a marketing plan.

2. No Use of Lists of Past Clients and Leads

One vital part of any successful marketing campaign is understanding who your ideal customer is. It's not enough to create a marketing budget and try a little bit of everything. You need to do market research to identify who you are trying to reach, where you can find them, and how they will react to your marketing activities.

3. Weak Follow Up With Leads, Lists, and Followers

Marketing can take many forms from word of mouth referrals to traditional advertising, to Internet marketing. There aren't any set rules when it comes to marketing; the best type of marketing for you depends on your business and your target audience. The mistake is assuming you don't need to market and that business will come to you.

4. Inadequate Budget For Growth

Some small business owners who don't overspend fall on the other end of the spectrum and refuse to spend much of anything. While there are certainly ways to start and grow a business with limited funds, going too far and not investing any kind of capital in your business can severely limit your potential for success.

5. Lack of Use of Analytics and Metrics

As small business owners, technology can provide new opportunities, help us do our work more efficiently and even help us save money. New technology may be intimidating and require time to learn and understand, but an unwillingness to adapt to technological advances can hurt your business in the short- and long- term.