Only 8% of Small Businesses Succeed — do NOT do these 3 things!
Here’s a Reality Check: 20% of small businesses fail in their first year, 30% of small businesses fail in their second year while after 5 years, 50% of small businesses fail. And 70% of small business owners fail in their 10th anniversary. That means that only 8 businesses out of every 100 will make it past 10 years!
One day I decided that I would spend the next half of my life learning things the easier way instead of always the hard way. Part of that soft learning determination has been sharing what I have learned so others can learn new lessons from new difficulties.
They say that wisdom comes with age — not true. Carolyn Alwin, director of the Center for Healthy Aging Research in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences at Oregon State University in Corvallis, wanted to determine if wisdom came with old age. Carolyn and her research team discovered it did not. They discovered it came from hardships. While that is true it doesn’t mean YOU have to experience ALL the hardships in order to be wise. Learn from others — which is why I am writing. I am not writing because I failed; I am writing because I succeeded.
You think you want to own your own business? Imagine the freedom and wealth! Oh what fun it would be to have your own! We have all thought about it, admit it. We have imagined the freedom and wealth that comes with that too. It just looks sooo good! We have seen an owner and are convinced they are living the dream. We got an aromatic whiff of the sweet elixir of business ownership — just like that Warner Bros’ Pepé Le Pew drifting along that sweet aroma….mmmmm.
Well wake up creampuff, this ain’t a unicorn and rainbow kinda article. This ain’t an article on how to open your business. It’s not even an article downplaying the realities of owning it either. Hang in there, the puppy’s still alive and the parade is dry.
Consider this, a ship’s captain plots a course before he leaves the dock, not after he’s set sail. This is an article to help you keep your focus clear so you can plot a course (even with puppies, unicorns and rainbows) and successfully reach your destination.
Those 92 out of 100 small businesses failed not because they failed to plan (we all know that adage); they failed because they diluted their vision and did not have enough energy to develop the momentum and focus to go the distance (what distance, right?!). However the vision for your business arrived (even if it was delivered by magic purple fairies), you already have a vision of WHAT you want. Great! Now, keep it clean and clear.
Here’s the 3 Things NEVER do before you Start your Business:
- Tell NO-ONE!
That’s right; tell no one — not your momma, your bff or even your Signify Other. YOU have the vision, not them. No one will understand. No one will see it. No one has your experiences or your talents or your passion. It was given to you, not them. You will be spend WAY too much energy trying to convince them that you can do it, that it will work, that it’s just going to be alright or that maybe you can’t do it or maybe you can and what do they think…blah, blah, blah — see what I mean, defused energy! There will be a time (LATER) when it will be ok to talk about it but NOT while you are still docked. Business failure stats are plentiful but stats for failures to launch businesses — nada but I can safely say it’s millions!
2. Do NOT look over there OR you’ll turn into a pillar of salt!
Well, maybe not the pillar of salt thingy, just don’t look over there at that other business. Over there has more going on behind the scenes than you can even imagine. They have too many variables in their success. When you look over there, you’ve taken your eyes off your own course and risk simply imitating your perception of what they are or what they are doing without any idea of where THEY are going. What you think you see in them is only the tip of an iceberg and it may not even be the right iceberg. Stay in your own seat Captain — FOCUS!
3. Do NOT make BIG Plans!
By BIG Plans, I mean write down all the specifics about everything. You will need to know what you need to know when you need to know it. I have a couple of control freak hairs so I can tell you this as a true friend! There is so much you will need to know and so many decisions to make; relax. Most decisions are made a-l-o-n-g the way not all at once. Planning the specifics will make you inflexible when things don’t go as you have planned. Start with the generals (more on what TO do in another article) but for sure, expect Big!
And there it is: 3 Things NOT to do Before you Open your Business. Grab the brown bag baby because it will be an awesome journey. Owning a business is one of those crazy, amazing and sometimes boring experiences that comes packed with lots of learning. I am not going to tell you it’s not for the faint-hearted (whatever that means). Owning your own business is for everyone who wishes to embrace it (and all that may come with it)!
Your business may be a destination place for others but it will always be a journey for you. So Captain, print out your first business card with your name as the Captain. Laminate it and carry it with you ALL the time and let it remind you now, later and much much later that this is YOUR vision and YOU are the Captain!
And to those already own their own business voyage or further along in the small business journey, make your card with your Captain name on it and write these 3 things on the back. It is never too late to change direction! All Captains get off course sometimes. I have had to do it at least 6 times in my own nearly 18 year old business. Each redirect lead me to even better experiences that I had ever even imagined!
