Why most small businesses fail – and what you can do so yours won’t
You’ve probably heard that many small businesses fail, right? Are you worried that yours will be one?
Discover Card conducted an independent survey to shed light on the characteristics of the 22 million small business owners in the United States. The number one trait common to small business owners? “Independence is their prime motivation.”
Studies have confirmed that while there are many personality characteristics common to most entrepreneurs, a very independent spirit is the one trait shared by each one.
Most small business owners would not give up the freedom that comes along with owning their business to work for someone else, even if it meant making more money.
The risk of why small businesses fail: isolation
But there is a danger to being too independent. This one trait of extreme independence can be the biggest roadblock to success for entrepreneurs. No one person has all the answers. No one person can work alone, always aware of potential problems or roadblocks. Everyone has their blind spots.
Independent legal nurse consultants have to be aware of the need to seek out a trusted network of peers. Entrepreneurs need a place where they can discuss issues with others in a similar situation. Sometimes, when working alone, it is very easy to continue down the wrong path until suddenly you discover what a costly error you have made.
One of the goals of my mentoring program at LNC Academy is to help LNCs avoid expensive mistakes. Believe me, I’ve made them and I guide LNCs so they won’t.
Another challenge that entrepreneurs face was discussed by Michael Gerber in his classic book The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most New Businesses Fail and What to Do About It. Gerber talked about the importance of working ON your business and not IN your business.
But how do you change from being a day-to-day business “technician”, dealing with customers and putting out fires, to spending time as a visionary executive looking at your business from the outside in? The best way: schedule committed time to work “on” your business!
If you are like most entrepreneurs, who have created the “busy business noise” in which it can be difficult to even hear yourself think, you will have to structure your time in such a way that the urgencies of the moment will not deter you from this important work. You and your business will benefit from a structure which ensures that you use the time you allocated for exactly what you intended, regardless of the emergency du jour.
One of the things I do is to set aside every day for learning. I read for an hour a day at night and spend at least 2-3 hours a week learning something new. Then I apply the information in my business.
Small businesses fail because of many factors, and one of them is not keeping up and engaged working on your business.
Learn more about how LNCs have built successful legal nurse consulting businesses when you invest in The Path to Legal Nurse Consulting: Collective Wisdom of Successful LNCs, Second Edition, edited by Pat Iyer – Order your copy now.