The last 18 months has been devastating for so many businesses with many being forced to either close or downsize as the pandemic took hold. Even if we disregard this in the statistics however, it cannot denied that prior to the lockdown, the probabilities for most businesses was not goo in terms of potential success. In fact the stats were that some 47% of businesses wouldn’t survive beyond year 3, and of those that did, 54% would fail before year 5.
Jeffrey Small Arbor financial advisor to businesses and a man who has worked in finance for a lifetime, knows only too well how easy it is for a business to fail, and these are the reasons why he believes this happens so often.
Poor Set-up
Sadly one of the main reasons that businesses do end up failing is that they are doomed to lose from the very beginning based on how they have been set up. A great number of businesses will not get accountants and financial advisors in place from the beginning, and this results in them being behind before they have even started. It is critical that businesses take their time in the early days and ensure that they have put themselves in the very best position for future success.
Growth Too Soon or Poor Execution
Growth is a natural part of business and if a company feels that it is time to push for this, it is a good indication that they have been doing well. With this being said however, many businesses are not equipped to grow as they should, and mistakes made here can see them go too big too soon, and thus run into problems which impact the business. Beyond poor execution some businesses can try to push for growth based on forecasts, which can never be trusted to this extent. Pushing for growth too son could prove to be an expensive mistake which costs the business its entire existence.
Failure to Plan
Believe it or not, there is a huge number of businesses out there who simply haven’t planned for their future, or they have been too optimistic with those plans. Any good business should be able to learn lessons from the past and plan for two kinds of futures. When planning in this way businesses are able to plan for any potential problems which may occur, and they can also plan for their success. The reason why planning is so important is that it puts businesses in a position whereby they are equipped to deal with whatever comes their way.
Greed
Greed can certainly play a role in the downfall of a business and there are many owners out there who are trying to take on competition which is simply bigger and better than they are. These businesses are looking to make as much money, as quickly as possible, and that is a poor model for making a successful business.
