Three Keys to Business Success

Over the past twenty plus years as a business adviser and as a mentor for SCORE, I have had the privilege at looking at many game plans as well as working with aspiring entrepreneurs. I have seen a little bit of everything when it comes to success and helping encourage other entrepreneurs as well as providing essential resources.

Let’s talk about the reality of starting your own business. We hear about the failure rate, which is about 85 percent within the first five years. That does not include mergers, acquisitions, etc, which adds to a more positive perspective. The reasons for failure are many, so let’s bullet a few of the key factors that keep people from attaining their goals and objectives. For the next couple of months I will be adding some case studies of those that have succeeded as well as those that have failed.

·         Is the product or service on the front of the wave? Which simply means are you starting a concept that has built in staying power?

·         Proper Funding – This is the biggie, 80 percent of small businesses are simply under-capitalized. Rule of thumb is to double the amount of money that you think you need as well as the length of time in which you expect it to take.

·         Effective Decision Making – Do you have a well thought out game plan that is do-able? Good decision making is built around the ability to do your due-diligence. You need to look at the positives as well as the negatives. The majority of small business entrepreneurs have the inspiration but they sometimes lack the resources and ability to make their venture a reality.

In the future I will be sharing with you some case studies on why some businesses succeed and why others fail.