You may have heard the myth that half of all businesses fail within the first year, and only 5% make it through four years. According to recent figures from the Small Business Administration, a government agency created to help small businesses start and succeed, nearly two-thirds of new businesses survive past two years and only slightly over half (56%) of businesses fail in the first four years.
No matter how long you have been in business, there are valuable lessons to be learned from the successes and failures of these new business start-ups.
One of the most surprising critical success factors we can learn from businesses which succeed is, not to go into business to get rich.
Ironically, the businesses which do get rich today are the businesses which start with a passion for filling a customer need…the “getting rich” appears to follow those businesses that have a passion for serving customers. Henry Ford’s higher purpose was to make the automobile affordable for the average consumer. His assembly line brought down costs and achieved his goal. Apple Computer co-founder Steve Jobs began with the sole purpose of creating a more user-friendly computer. The rest is history.
The second lesson in today’s economy is you must have a website. A well-designed website makes it easy for users to discover what you offer or do, and why you are their best choice. Do not rely on prospects finding your site by searching for what you sell. Promote your name and website so that prospects search your business name rather than searching what you sell. Inputting what you sell into a search engine will invariably reveal all of your competitors as well. Your advertising needs to create a preference for your business, your name, and your website.