For anyone looking to start a business the statistics are pretty ugly.
9 out of 10 businesses fail.
Sure some statistics claim it’s 8 out of 10 (but is this really a whole lot better?)
And whether it happens in 2, 5, or even 10 years, that’s still not a whole lot of time when you consider the blood, sweat, and tears that often goes into starting a new business.
So what is it that the 10% of companies that survive have in common?
1. They Find Clarity
It all comes down to one word.
Clarity.
Do you know what you’re offer, and do you know who it’s for?
Great companies all have clarity. They know what they do, and they know who it’s for.
This also means they know who it’s NOT for.
And this means designing your marketing, your message, and your entire company around best serving your ideal client or customer.
Clarity also allows you to accurately assess “market fit”.
A key reason that many businesses fail is that they make products that nobody wants.
This is either because the product really doesn’t provide much value, or else it’s being marketed to the wrong group of people.
If you’re going to spend time and money working on a business it only makes sense to spend some time beforehand ensuring that you have a good market fit for what you’re about to offer.
BONUS TIP: Competition in the marketplace is normally a good indicator of a market fit.
2. They Never Say No to Growth
I was at a business breakfast the other day with a group of seasoned veterans in the entrepreneurial world. All of them owned and ran successful companies and had decades of experience.
There was a comment however that was brought up when a gentleman said “Growing too quickly is bad for business”
At first I nodded and thought to myself, yes, I can see that.
After all, you need time to develop systems, and processes, and to work out any kinks.
You also need time to learn, adapt, and adjust to the market and to ensure
But what if this was all wrong?
What if you needed fast, accelerated, and unstoppable growth?
What if rapidly increasing your business brought in large amounts of cash flow, and allowed you to quickly take over market share.
An entrepreneur friend of mine says you should “never say no to growth”.
Don’t turn away good customers, hire more staff.
Don’t refuse offers, increase production.
Don’t postpone the sale, sign the contract and figure it out later.
Using fast growth is what enabled my first successful company to withstand the slow periods, and the fast growth allowed me to reinvest in the company and scale even faster than before, not to mention building a cash reserve just in case the growth was unsustainable or suddenly slowed down.
3. They Know That Being Good Is Not Good Enough
Being good, is NOT good enough.
Being merely good, is the kiss of death.
Being great is a bit better.
But being exceptional is what is really required to give your business a fighting chance.
With rare exception (like having a monopoly or government contract) the only way to survive and thrive is to focus on being exceptional.
My advice is always this, if you don’t feel you can do it better than everyone else, you probably shouldn’t start.
Build A Better Business
You don’t need to fail 9 times before you finally hit business gold.
Building a successful business comes down to a lot more than luck.
Successful businesses can be studied and their lessons applied to your business to ensure years and years of profitability and growth.
A little bit of research, a commitment to excellence, and a well thought out game plan can save you years of struggle and thousands of dollars, and make owning a business what it should be, a fulfilling and life changing experience.
