This may be difficult to hear but: you are probably going to cause your small business to fail.
And, even worse, you’re going to make that happen very soon.
It’s known that 9 out of 10 startups fail, and that only 56% of small business make it to their fifth year.
This isn’t bad luck. Small business failure happens for many reasons. Let’s look at some of them–and ways you an avoid it.
You lack the personal skills
Not everyone can be a good small business owner. In order to succeed at that, you need to have the right personality skills.
These are skills such as strategic thinking, planning, people management skills, leadership, and financial literacy.
Good news for you is that most people aren’t born with any of these skills. They’re learned.
Make sure you have them, and if you don’t–make sure you get them.
Your products or services are not wanted or needed
While it seems logical to first find a need and fill it, many small businesses owners create businesses to do things they want to do, rather than what is needed.
That’s why there are so many restaurants, cafes and coffee shops.
Make sure you create your perfect business plan and look at whether there is a gap in the market for what you’re offering.
You have low-quality marketing methods
This is one that hits a lot of small businesses. They may have created the perfect product or service, but if no one knows about it, no one will buy it.
Some believe that customers will come to them, so they don’t budget anything or much for marketing.
Others spend a lot on traditional but ineffective marketing.
And yet others do some inbound marketing, but they do it very poorly. They have bad social media strategies and they are ineffective and inconsistent.
If you want your small business to succeed, you need to make sure your marketing is on point.
You need to create the best strategy based on good research to ensure that you’re reaching the right audience with the right message at the right time.
If not, you’re headed straight for failure.
You are financially illiterate
This one is a tough one. However, business is all about money, and if you’re not gaining it, you’re probably losing it.
One of the best things to do is to get a good grip on your small business finances. This means learning about all the most important finance documents, checking up on your invoice knowledge, and in general being mindful of your business expenses.
If you can do all of these important things, you’ll be able to get familiar with your small business finances.
How not to fail
The most important way not to fail at small business is by learning as much as you can about your business.
This means reading this blog and taking action to make sure that you don’t fail. Even better, you need to make sure that you don’t just survive in your small business, your thrive.
Good luck!
