What’s the truth about new business failure rates?
If you have considered starting your own business or are in the process
of making that leap, you probably have heard that half of all
businesses fail in their first year of operation. The latest statistics
released from the Small Business Administration indicate somewhat
better odds: two-thirds of all new businesses survive at least two
years, and 44 percent survive at least four years.
Still, these numbers can give you cause for pause. Is it worth the
effort? Do you have what it takes to succeed?
Bottom line? It’s not enough to have a great idea. You need to know how
to put feet to it.
Whether you want to start a home-based business or other small
business, three things are certain. One, you need to wear a lot of
hats. Two, you probably don’t have all the skills you need to wear all
those hats. Three, you don’t have time to wear all those hats.
The frustration time involved in learning how to wear all those hats
makes it easy to lose sight of the original reasons why you wanted to
start your business: passion for your idea and the desire for freedom.
Endless distractions can consume your time and derail your best
intentions.
Some people turn to franchising because many business decisions are
already made for them. But with franchising comes up-front buy-in fees,
restrictions in how business is done and surrendering part of one’s
profits to corporate HQ. Again, business freedom remains elusive.
Much has been written regarding reasons why new businesses fail. Often,
it’s from lack of venture capital. Unrealistic expectations of cash
flow—revenues versus business expenses—are another common stumbling
block. Lack of good business management skills can submarine an
otherwise-promising venture. Similarly, people think that owning a
business will enable them to work fewer hours than before. That may be
true sometime down the road, but not initially. Temperament also plays
a role in business success. You need to be willing to learn from your
mistakes and look upon setbacks as simply another bend in the road to
success. You need persistence in measures beyond intelligence.
But often new businesses fail simply because the owner doesn’t have
enough time to devote to administrative and technical tasks: corporate
reporting structures and taxes, network setup, office management, and
all the other details that can eat away at the heart of a promising
business venture.
Contracting with administrative, legal and technical consultants is
cost prohibitive to a business start-up. Nor can you afford to spend
months teaching yourself every facet of business.
Innoventum President Denise Gosnell says this is a common thread with
new businesses. “Take Dave, for example. He’s passionate about creating
movies. But he doesn’t know how to form a corporation, create a web
site, or write a business plan. He’s just great at creating movies. But
ever since Dave went on his own, he’s been so busy trying to figure out
all the business stuff that he hasn’t had any time left to create
movies. We’ve helped hundreds of people like Dave move through the
necessary business start-up steps quickly and inexpensively so they can
focus on what they are good at. That’s what Innoventum does—shows
people how to develop their infrastructure without breaking the bank,
so they can get back to their passion, like Dave’s movies.”
The most economical and time-efficient way to ramp up in all these
areas is to have one source of easy-to-follow, step-by-step
information. Even better is a resource that also tells you HOW to do
it. Now, for the first time, this is available in a free 60-page
blueprint —written by small-business owners who are experts in legal,
technical, marketing and financing of small companies. The article is
called “Business 2.0, A Blueprint for Starting and Operating Your
Business in Today’s Hi-Tech World”. Reading this can save you money as
well as many hours of frustration time—and move you closer to the
freedom that you desire in having your own business. This downloadable
free PDF file is available at Innoventum (http://www.innoventum.com).
For FREE articles and videos related to small-business
start-ups, or for more information on developing a successful
new business, consult the professionals at Innoventum.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/
small-business-articles/time-friend-or-foe-to-a-new-business-startup-
make-time-your-ally-when-starting-a-new-business-403116.html
About the Author
Aurora Anderson is the Director of Marketing for Innoventum, Inc.
Innoventum is a company driven by business professionals who have
cleared the many hurdles that come with business start-up steps,
including legal, technical, marketing and funding considerations. Run
by three attorneys, all with entrepreneurial experience and one an
eight-time author of technology books, Innoventum is dedicated to
helping new businesses and small businesses become established in the
most time- and cost-efficient way—with a professional, seasoned
corporate image.
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