1. No Focus. Many business owners try to appeal to everybody in the market and ultimately end up appealing to very few. Successful business owners focus on a specific market category and segment, create a way to stand out from their competition and then focus ALL their efforts and resources into building the strongest, long term relationships with the ideal customers in the chosen segment.
I sincerely hope this list of ‘Top Ten Reasons for Business Failure’ will help you and future entrepreneurs increase your chances for long term business success. If you choose to ignore them you do so at your own peril.
Yours in prosperity,
Bill Jackman
Bill Jackman
Bill Jackman is a passionate entrepreneur, internationally recognized brandmarketing expert and certified “Project Management Professional”(PMP).
Bill is the Founder of Thrive Software.com, a revolutionary retail success system designed to show independent retailers how to achieve measurable, profitable results from their sales and marketing activities.
Bill is also the best selling co-author of 'Create the Business Breakthrough You Want' with business gurus Brian Tracy, Mark Victor Hansen, et al. This innovative book won the highest endorsements from international business legends Dr. Stephen Covey and Ken Blanchard.
Most importantly, Bill has been the lucky husband of Lori for the past 15 years and very proud father of William (11) and Amelia (8).
Hey Bill, I think you stopped your list a bit early – you didn’t mention anything about excessive government interference and overregulation and its strangling effect on small business. You’ve been in the business 25 years, you know what I’m talking about. Idiotic height restrictions, waiting months for permits and City Hall approvals. It’ll kill you every time! And don’t even get me started on the over-taxation. Officials must think small business is like a bottomless pool of money. Either that, or they’re out to punish us for having the nerve to try to get ahead, creat jobs, boost economy, etc… I bet it would be easier in Cuba than Halifax!
Dear ‘Been There, Done That’,
Often dealing with government compliance is like dancing in quicksand. My best advice is to stop struggling against it because the more you struggle, the faster you go down.
In fact, despite the traditional ‘red tape’ attitude of many government droids, they are still the largest source of business financing and support in our country.
This is something many entrepreneurs, myself included, have learned to accept and successfully leverage for the benefit of our businesses, customers, staff and communities.
As for my list of Top Ten Reasons – they represent those activities WITHIN the control of the entrepreneur that many who fail never realize until it is too late.
Thanks for your comments. Keep them coming!
Be Great,
Bill Jackman