Why Do So Many Businesses Fail?
According to statistics compiled by the Small Business Administration, 97% of all businesses fail within the 1st five years. This is an ominous statistic in any economy, but even more frightening in this current economy that encourages entrepreneurship.
Many people are being forced out of 9 to 5 corporate jobs and are turning to entrepreneurship as a way to support themselves. It is frightening to think what will happen if 97% of these people fail in their entrepreneurial ventures. Why do so many entrepreneurs fail?
The first reason so many people fail is that they try to do it all alone. It is the exceptionally rare person that possesses all the skills and characteristics necessary for business success. Here is a partial list of what it takes to run a successful business:
· A great business idea that people are willing to pay for
· A detailed plan on how you will implement that idea
· Price your product to make money
· Manufacture your product
· Sell your product or service
· Deliver your product to your customer
· Account for your product
· Maintain a computer system to support your company
· Hire, fire, and manage employees
· Payroll for your employees
· Quarterly taxes
· Federal Taxes
· Purchase raw materials and deal with vendors
· Deal with customers, especially high-need, picky, and angry customers
· Handle legal issues
· Respond to competition
· Deal with a constantly changing market
· Make money to succeed in business
I have met people that make $40,000,000 a year in business, but I have never met anybody that has every skill necessary to succeed in business.
So what can you do to assure that you will be a success?
First of all, take an honest personal inventory. What do you do well? If you are a great photographer but a bad business person, that is not an uncommon situation. You can still succeed in business. Most of the people I have worked for have been in a similar situation and they had successful businesses and made a lot of money.
In business, if you cannot do it, you can almost certainly hire someone who can. If you are not an attorney, you can hire an attorney. If you cannot write payroll, you can hire somebody to do that for you. If you cannot fix computers, there are people that can help you with that. Whatever you need, you can hire; but you have to include that cost in your business plan and your pricing decisions.
Second of all, you can learn much of what you do not know already. The library has some great books, or you can take classes at the local community college. Even the internet has great resources.
And in a shameless plug for myself, most of my adult life, I have helped entrepreneurs succeed and make money. You are invited to attend a series of free seminars I am holding. (Contact me at: John@ControllersAdvice.Com for a current schedule). Also, I would love to talk to you about:
1.) The dreams and goals you have for your business
2.) The challenges and problems you face right now
3.) Helping you work on a plan that can lead you to business success
May God Bless You in Your Efforts,
John Wheeler
John@ControllersAdvice.Com