1. Too comfortable

When things are going right in business its easy to put your foot off the gas and relax. When clients are coming in, your cash flow reserves are increasing you may think: Why reinvest in the business? Yet what Ive found especially over the past 2 years, is that many businesses that were too comfortable became complacent. They didnt innovate fast enough and stuck to what they knew which meant their business struggled even more to adapt. You must be able to innovate quickly and not settle in being comfortable where you are. 

 2. No Focus

Its easy when youre building a business to focus on too many things. This can cause you to be unproductive and waste time doing activities that dont directly impact your business growth. Too many target markets, too many offers and too many market channels can cause you to spread yourself far too thin. Its very important when you start out to have a clear focus to help you build sustainably.

 3. Lack of Marketing

Perhaps youre spending too much time on your product and not enough time marketing. It's an easy mistake to make yet what I see is too many people building their amazing business in the middle of nowhere where people dont know about it. Now more than ever, you must create an online presence and have a brand that stands out from the crowd.

 4. Analysis paralysis

With so much going on when you're building your business, its easy to become stuck in analysis paralysis. Where you spend so much time planning and not enough time implementing what you need to move the business forward. You must make sure that youre a leader, making quick key decisions that really move the business forward.

 5. Cash flow

Cash is the lifeblood of your business, yet too many times I see businesses who arent monitoring their cash flow in a way where they can project in 6 months time if they have everything they need to get their outgoings and payrolls paid. You must have a keen eye on your financial spreadsheets as you grow, to make sure you dont grow too fast and also to make strategic investments to keep the cash coming in.

 6.  Lack of or no delegation

Many entrepreneurs spend far too much time doing things that they arent skilled to do. Whether this is website design, accounting, sales pages, copywriting ... the list is endless. Make sure that you hire people to fill in your weaknesses. The jack of all trades is not something that can help your business scale. You want to make sure that youre working on the business expansion and not getting bogged down with day to day admin.

 7. Non-scalable business model

Make sure that you have a business model that is scalable. Many entrepreneurs especially in the consulting training industry only have themselves as the product. If youre only doing 1 to 1 coaching or training there is a limit on how much you can scale. If you dont have a business model that works alongside yourself or without you, it will be very challenging to scale the business to a point where you can create the income that you desire.

 8. No Mentor / coach

No one is self-made. Everyone has people that help them on their journey to success. Yet one of the biggest mistakes I see, are entrepreneurs looking to reinvent the wheel and not having guidance to help them on their journey. Its important to have a coach and/or mentor on your entrepreneur journey.These people can help you perform at a higher level, avoid big mistakes and build your business efficiently long term.



About Ben Ivey

Ben Ivey is an entrepreneur lifestyle expert, international speaker, Tony Robbins Strategic Intervention Coach, and the Lead Facilitator for Zero Suicide Systems Nu-Rekall. After overcoming his own self-sabotage in business, he now helps other entrepreneurs create business success whilst living an extraordinary lifestyle.Ben is the founder of the Entrepreneur Lifestyle Accelerator, supporting overwhelmed entrepreneurs around the globe that are struggling to create the success they desire. His events led by his trainers are now regularly held internationally, working with senior leadership teams of large companies such as Maersk, HSBC, and Coca Cola. Ben is also the founder of the Lifestyle Coach Academy, training lifestyle coaches with the coaching skills, knowledge and business strategies to build a coaching practice online.


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8 biggest challenges of creating a sustainable business





 1. Too comfortable

When things are going right in business its easy to put your foot off the gas and relax. When clients are coming in, your cash flow reserves are increasing you may think: Why reinvest in the business? Yet what Ive found especially over the past 2 years, is that many businesses that were too comfortable became complacent. They didnt innovate fast enough and stuck to what they knew which meant their business struggled even more to adapt. You must be able to innovate quickly and not settle in being comfortable where you are. 

 2. No Focus

Its easy when youre building a business to focus on too many things. This can cause you to be unproductive and waste time doing activities that dont directly impact your business growth. Too many target markets, too many offers and too many market channels can cause you to spread yourself far too thin. Its very important when you start out to have a clear focus to help you build sustainably.

 3. Lack of Marketing

Perhaps youre spending too much time on your product and not enough time marketing. It's an easy mistake to make yet what I see is too many people building their amazing business in the middle of nowhere where people dont know about it. Now more than ever, you must create an online presence and have a brand that stands out from the crowd.

 4. Analysis paralysis

With so much going on when you're building your business, its easy to become stuck in analysis paralysis. Where you spend so much time planning and not enough time implementing what you need to move the business forward. You must make sure that youre a leader, making quick key decisions that really move the business forward.

 5. Cash flow

Cash is the lifeblood of your business, yet too many times I see businesses who arent monitoring their cash flow in a way where they can project in 6 months time if they have everything they need to get their outgoings and payrolls paid. You must have a keen eye on your financial spreadsheets as you grow, to make sure you dont grow too fast and also to make strategic investments to keep the cash coming in.

 6.  Lack of or no delegation

Many entrepreneurs spend far too much time doing things that they arent skilled to do. Whether this is website design, accounting, sales pages, copywriting ... the list is endless. Make sure that you hire people to fill in your weaknesses. The jack of all trades is not something that can help your business scale. You want to make sure that youre working on the business expansion and not getting bogged down with day to day admin.

 7. Non-scalable business model

Make sure that you have a business model that is scalable. Many entrepreneurs especially in the consulting training industry only have themselves as the product. If youre only doing 1 to 1 coaching or training there is a limit on how much you can scale. If you dont have a business model that works alongside yourself or without you, it will be very challenging to scale the business to a point where you can create the income that you desire.

 8. No Mentor / coach

No one is self-made. Everyone has people that help them on their journey to success. Yet one of the biggest mistakes I see, are entrepreneurs looking to reinvent the wheel and not having guidance to help them on their journey. Its important to have a coach and/or mentor on your entrepreneur journey.These people can help you perform at a higher level, avoid big mistakes and build your business efficiently long term.



About Ben Ivey

Ben Ivey is an entrepreneur lifestyle expert, international speaker, Tony Robbins Strategic Intervention Coach, and the Lead Facilitator for Zero Suicide Systems Nu-Rekall. After overcoming his own self-sabotage in business, he now helps other entrepreneurs create business success whilst living an extraordinary lifestyle.Ben is the founder of the Entrepreneur Lifestyle Accelerator, supporting overwhelmed entrepreneurs around the globe that are struggling to create the success they desire. His events led by his trainers are now regularly held internationally, working with senior leadership teams of large companies such as Maersk, HSBC, and Coca Cola. Ben is also the founder of the Lifestyle Coach Academy, training lifestyle coaches with the coaching skills, knowledge and business strategies to build a coaching practice online.


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