First in a series about starting or buying a business.
One clear way to reinvent yourself — after downsizing, layoff or voluntary retirement — is to start or buy your own business. If you did a poll, almost as many people say they’d like to have their own business as say they want to write a book.
While these can be trying times — just take a look at your 401(k) statement, or the unemployment rate — it’s also a period of great innovation and business creation. More small businesses will be created during this period than any other time. Many thousands of those laid off will not be rehired. People are living longer and healthier lives. It’s a great time to start a business!
This was true at the Second Annual Florida boomer Lifestyle Conference in Clearwater, Florida last month. Michael Winerip the Generation B author for the New York Times noticed a trend among conference goers in starting their own business. Several had spent much of their retirement savings purchasing franchises.
While writing a book can take several tortuous years, if you let it, buying a business is relatively easy. The hard part is making your business work.
Before you run out and buy a franchise or put your shingle up, know:
Top 5 Reasons Businesses Fail:
- No active business plan.
- Under-capitalized or over-optimistic about revenue
- Lack of goals or purpose other than: I want to make money.
- Failure to pay attention to cash flow.
- Inability to understand the industry or connect with customers.
However, if you start out differently, then you could be one of the 30% that’s still around in 4 years. Yes, according to Dun & Bradstreet, 60% of registered businesses fail within 3 years.
Top 5 Things Your Business Needs to Succeed:
- Mindset
- Organization
- Community (and that includes your customers!)
- Revision
- Focus
Stay tuned for next in my series: Mindset and Your Business Success.
Have you started a business in the last two years? Got a success story or learned a good lesson? Share it here!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I think your number 5 reason for failure should be Number 1. Many businesses have a plan, which is just a bunch of accounting type research put into a (presumably) cohesive story. But that’s just a snapshot of a hoped for future. It doesn’t mean they have a business.
To have a successful business you need to have an intimate knowledge of your customers’ needs, desires and behaviors. Without it, you’re just delivering some distant service or product, throwing it at a wall, so to speak, and hoping it sticks.
Simply, without the right customers, you don’t have a business.
Tony Wanless, Knowpreneur.net, @reinventionist
Tony,
It’s true many businesses have a plan, that looks real pretty on a spreadsheet, but that’s it.
I like what you said about ‘throwing it at a wall’ hoping it will stick. It’s hard to make sales that way.
Customers are integral to a business!
Thanks for stopping by!