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Get Off Your Butt and Create Your Financial Future…Now!
Most people have no idea where their money goes. They earn it and they spend it.
That's fine if you want to live from week to week and are not concerned about your financial future. However if you want to increase your wealth and have more...
Securing Second- and Third-Round Venture Capital Financing
Widget sales are booming -– the competition is scrambling, demand is up, and the books are finally treading water. Your core management team has big ideas for the future of Widget Inc. Opportunity is abundant; but how will you fund that next big...
Small Business Credit Cards: Reap The Rewards!
Are you looking to finance some of your small business related expenses? Did you know that small business credit cards can help you afford many of your business expenses? In fact, small business credit cards not only help you pay for business...
Top 10 Reasons Your Business Needs A Website
With the rapid changing climate of the small business world you have to be more forward thinking than ever just to keep up with your competition.
Staus Quo isn't good enough anymore.
One of the best ways to move your business forward is by...
Using Forums to Promote Your Business
When is work not really work? When it's fun!
Using online forums, also called message boards, can be a fun way to promote your business in a low key way.
Benefits:
You cultivate relationships with others
You learn about all...
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Small Business Q & A: The Business Failed, But Did You?
Q: After years of dreaming about starting my own business, I finally took the plunge a little over a year ago. To say the least, my dream quickly became a nightmare. The business didn't do nearly as well as I had hoped. I ran out of money within six months and had to take out a second mortgage on my house just to keep things going. I have now closed the business and am left with a pile of bills that will probably put me in personal bankruptcy. I don't mean to take it out on you, but instead of telling people how great having your own business is all the time you should also warn them that starting a business is not easy and can be devastating when things go wrong. -- Gene K.
A: Gene, I hope that I have never given anyone the impression that having your own business is a walk in the park. To the contrary, I'm like the proverbial Chicken Little when it comes to warning readers of the obstacles and pitfalls that await those considering the entrepreneurial plunge.
To quote myself from a column I wrote earlier this year, "If it was easy, my friend, everybody would do it."
Just to make sure we're in agreement, let me reiterate the standard warnings once again. Starting a business is incredibly hard work. It takes long hours and deep pockets. It demands unbridled passion and unquestioned commitment. It requires that you give of yourself until you often feel there is nothing left to give. And sometimes, even after you've done all that you can do and given all that you can give, the business fails.
Period.
Blood, sweat, and tears can only carry you so far in the business world. Good intentions and grand ideas won't pay the office rent. You can not make payroll with Monopoly money.
I certainly don't mean to make light of your situation. In fact, I know exactly how you feel. I failed so miserably my first time in business that I swore I would never think about working for myself again. All I wanted to do was to find a nice, secure 9-to-5 job that provided me with a nice steady paycheck. I yearned for the opportunity to grow fat and happy on someone else's payroll for a change.
I never again wanted to have to think about customers or employees or withholding taxes or accounts receivable or anything else even remotely associated with being in business.
I just wanted to crawl in a hole and die because my business had failed, and in my All-American, macho male, "you are what you do" brain that meant that I was a failure, too.
Getting over the failure of a business can be extremely difficult, especially if you are one of those entrepreneurs (like I was) who wrongly relates the success or failure of a business to the success or failure of you as a person.
The best way that I know of to get over the failure of a business (and the deep feelings of personal failure that go along with it) is to do an autopsy of the business to help find out exactly what went wrong. Only by discovering our weakness can we build on our strengths (Yogi Berra eat your heart out).
It took a long time and an enormous amount of reflection to realize that the
business had failed for many reasons, not simply because I was a miserable excuse for an entrepreneur. I wasn't looking to shuck the blame so much as simply trying to understand what really went wrong. A few years later when I mustered the courage to take the plunge again, I did so with the knowledge gained from my first failed business. I knew what I had done wrong and I knew what I'd done right. Lessons learned, put to good use. Knock wood, this time so far, so good.
Performing an autopsy on a failed business is a simple process, but one that can reveal a wealth of information that you can use should you ever decide to step out onto the business high wire again.
To do your business autopsy find a quiet place where you can sit and reflect on the life of your business. With pen and paper in hand (or laptop on lap) write down everything that you can think of that went right with the business and alternatively, everything that went wrong. Your goal is to create a "Success" versus "Failure" spreadsheet that will help you better understand exactly why the business went south.
For the autopsy to be effective, it is imperative that you are completely honest with yourself. Shove your ego in a drawer and be completely realistic or the autopsy will just become an exercise in futility. You will end up looking for scapegoats instead of reasons.
If your lack of experience was a contributing factor to the failure of the business, write it down. If your brilliant negotiating skills allowed you to close a big deal and beat out a competitor, write it down. If you were undercapitalized or incorrectly estimated your share of the market, write it down. If you had a partner who didn't pull his weight or a product that didn't sell as well as you thought it would or your building was flattened by an earthquake, write it down. Write it all down.
Once you have all the facts in front of you, it's easy to see why the business really failed. You might be surprised to find out that the failure of the business wasn't completely your fault, after all.
Then again, you might discover that the business failure was your fault. If that turns out to be the case, don't beat yourself up for long. Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur and that's OK.
The world would be a miserable place if everyone sat around whining about their lack of customers or complaining about their employees.
Next time we'll take a look at the primary reasons businesses fail and discuss how you might avoid them.
Here's to your success.
Tim Knox tim@dropshipwholesale.net For information on starting your own online or eBay business, visit http://www.dropshipwholesale.net
About the Author
Tim Knox as the president and CEO of two successful technology companies: B2Secure Inc., a Web-based hiring management software company; and Digital Graphiti Inc., a software development company. Tim is also the founder of dropshipwholesale.net, an ebusiness dedicated to the success of online entrepreneurs. http://www.dropshipwholesale.net http://www.smallbusinessqa.com
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United States Small Business Administration |
An electronic gateway of procurement information for and about small businesses. Search engine for contracting officers, marketing tool for small firms, ... |
www.sba.gov |
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SBA |
The Small Business Planner includes information and resources that will help you at any stage of the business lifecycle. ... |
www.sba.gov |
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Main Page - SmallBusiness.com - Small Business Resources |
Find Small Business plans, advice, tutorials about organization, corporations, entrepreneurship, and smallbusiness. |
www.smallbusiness.com |
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Yahoo! Small Business: Domain Names, Web Hosting, E-commerce ... |
Yahoo! Small Business provides products and services that enable you to establish and grow your business on the Internet. Services include domain name ... |
smallbusiness.yahoo.com |
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Small business advice business start up small business finance ... |
business start up small business finance start up advice. |
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Smallbusiness.gov.au redirect to business.gov.au |
Business Entry Point - Helping small business in big ways. An Australian Government initiative. The content from this website has now been consolidated into ... |
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Business & Small Business |
Online and print small business publication. Information to help start, grow or manage a small business. |
www.entrepreneur.com |
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Microsoft Small Business Center |
Your home for information about Microsoft's small-business products and services, tailored business advice, technology tools, and more. |
www.microsoft.com |
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The Small Business Advisor - advice for starting and operating a ... |
Advice and assistance for starting and operating a small or home based business. |
www.isquare.com |
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SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business" |
A nonprofit association dedicated to encouraging the formation, growth, and success of small business nationwide through counseling and mentor programs. |
www.score.org |
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Small Business and Self-Employed One-Stop Resource |
IR-2006-2, January 3, 2006 - Temporary and proposed regulations will significantly reduce tax filing burden for nearly 950000 small business owners. ... |
www.irs.gov |
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Welcome to Small Business BC your business resource in British ... |
BC Business Services offers assistance and resources for those running or starting a business in British Columbia and Vancouver. |
www.smallbusinessbc.ca |
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Small Business Service | Home |
Provides information and advice to help small businesses realise their potential. |
www.sbs.gov.uk |
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NSW Small Business |
A site developed by the NSW Department of State and Regional Development for small businesses. Topics include management, resources, current issues and ... |
www.smallbiz.nsw.gov.au |
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Business Management & Advice: Small Business Resources & Information |
Looking for business management and advice? Our website includes small business resources and information that can help you. Visit the small business ... |
www.businessweek.com |
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Small Business Lawyer, Attorney, Law, Legal Help - FindLaw for ... |
Information and legal sites relevant to small business. |
smallbusiness.findlaw.com |
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Small Business Funding Opportunities (SBIR and STTR) |
Links to Small Business Funding Opportunities and SBIR / STTR Applications. |
grants.nih.gov |
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Microsoft bCentral Small Business Directory |
Directory categorized by industry with company business card feature. |
sbd.bcentral.com |
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Facilitates the sharing and exchange of information among small business development centers, the small business administration and other business-oriented ... |
sbdcnet.utsa.edu |
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Small Business Development Corporation |
Our business information services provides guidance to improve business skills and knowledge on advice on starting, buying, selling and expanding a small ... |
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