Why Most People Fail In Business
 

Starting your own business can yield amazing rewards but at the same time its a pretty big risk. I was recently asked in the Q&A why people fail at starting their own businesses. I came up with several reasons and wanted to expand more on this.

Fear - Its balls out to quit your day job and start your own company. There are no guarantees. It took me 4 years to take the plunge and a huge push from my wife to do it and I never quit my day jobs? I got canned.

Excuses - This is the #1 reason people do not ever get started. People will always think of reasons not to be successful.

Stress - Owning your own business is stressful. Especially when you grow and have employees. I am very hands on and always want to do all the work myself? but its just not possible. Plus I have employees that are just better at many things then I am and I need to let them do the job. Then you have the financials which add a shit ton of stress.

Comfort - Lets be honest. Most 9-5 jobs are pretty comfy. You get up at 8am grab your coffee in to work by 8:30 to gossip for a bit. Grab your TPS reports and highlighter and start to go through them. You finish the first batch about 11:30 time to goto lunch with the gang. After a good social lunch you head back to the office to grab the rest of your TPS reports until 4:45 when you start to shut it down and head out. Home by 5:30. Pretty nice. When you own your own company your on 24/7 or atleast thats how it is with me. Server issues at 3am.. Im up and working on it or calling dillsmack if I cant figure it out quick. I miss the comfort of just having a easy 9-5 gig. But not that much =P

The Dip - Everyone loves the initial dreams of owning your own business but soon after the fun thoughts leave the real work begins. Powering through that dip is a mother. We go through it every time we start a new website. Being able to power through the dip until you reach a tipping point is probably the biggest reasons companies fail.

Motivation - Some people are just motivated more then others. When I first started my own company my main motivation for kicking ass was that I was terrified to go back to a corporate 9-5 job. That was 5 years ago. Now my motivation is more to keep kicking ass so my employees/partners never have to work for a corporate 9-5 job ever again.

There are others like ? lazy and not working hard but I think they are more of a effect from the above.

I know a lot of you are close to starting your own business. I hear from you every day. What is holding you back?

http://www.shoemoney.com/

is that you?

Lack of a solid business plan and poor money management are also big ones.

People themselves are their own biggest stumbling blocks to getting successful, no question about it.

And... good post.

Good post. I was actually gonna come in here and question whether it was egotistical for someone to assume that they know enough to give anybody else advice. But your post isn't an egotistical rant of how to do things. It's a pretty good look at the obstacles that make it tough to run a business. Good read.

Well, it's SHOEBITCH not me. But I did find it an interesting read.

I have people, both friends and RL people I know, as well as members of DP, SP, and other boards that ask for help from time to time and think about, 'going into da biz'.

SHOEBITCH hits on a lot of good points. There are many more, but I thought it would be interesting to get some feedback from the GFY on their :2 cents:.

Yeah, for me stress and motivation were definitely the biggest issues. I managed to find a balance, but it took me ages. Now I wake up early, work for at least 8 hours a day and I also workout and shit to keep myself in shape and not look like Shoemoney.

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

I think a person has to also get into the state of mind where they realize that just about everything that has ever been taught to the masses is bullshit.

Otherwise it is just a matter of time before someone wins their trust and then runs off with their money.

This is so dead on it's scary. I normally tell people it's a lot like getting unplugged from the Matrix. I've been self employed for 4-5 years now. Or I should say, doing online full time since the time.

I was doing it part time, while working in telco after college, since '97. Make some nice extra money on the side. But I can tell you that, with each passing year, I find myself more 'out of touch' with the masses.

Organized religion.
Thoughts on marriage.
"what you're supposed to do" societal rule bullshit.

Even the gripes most of my friends have... I simply no longer relate.

There is nothing more rewarding when you get the large check from the fruits of many hours of labor ... that alone tells you that things are on the right track.

Trick is to keep diversifying for new revenue streams as some die out

Change is the only constant :)

Very nice post man.

I have my own biz (not adult), and I have been working on it for 6 months now. I am not quitting my dayjob before it makes enough money.

quoted for truth

what worked yesterday might not work at all today

I have been self employed full time for about 12 years now. There is no other way as far as I see it. I built the life I wanted to live, as crazy as it is, with no regrets.

2008 - 2009 will be the most profitable years yet.

I recommend reading "Think and grow rich" by Napoleon Hill. Probably the most famous book on that topic.

Maybe people can read it on the shitter like SHOEBITCH.

Listen to audio of this book recently on international flight.

good stuff. Except the part of preserving sexual energy. :1orglaugh

Number one reason small businesses fail is under capitalized. In other words they run out of money.

most people when they get some decent money start to relax way early, take vocations, become lazy thinking "i can do it later on", etc... it's all about dedication and focus

Wow nice read thanks

I came into porn a little over a year ago and it is hard to make money from it unless you are prepared to work hard. When I first started I almost gave up as I was making no money but it takes time and although I do not make huge amounts I do make money from this industry and over time with more experience I hope to make a lot more. I also enjoy what I do and I am allways willing to take the pluge into something new in this biz whether it works or not. To me it is all a learning curve and every business has its ups and downs.

Start small and think big :thumbsup

i think u have to have a clear goal in mind... either financial goal or lifestyle goal.

my focus is lifestyle. i dont want to be a big name or industry big shot, id rather make money quietly and enjoy life than killing myself trying to be on top.


read 4 hour work week.

Did Shoemoney ever get another check or only the one in 2005? I bookmarked his blog looks like a good read.

Nah. He said he only had the one check. After that, was all direct deposit/ACH. He has said that before on his WMR show.

It's a good read. Nothing earth shattering if you have been around the online business for some time. But it sometimes will give you a different vantage point. I watch/listen to his show, and read the blog because he will sometimes announce new programs or things before they've launched.

Most noobs think he's a god. Which I find entertaining to say the least.

HUh?????

I saw this thread and thought the opposite. What about the people who succeed? When do they have enough? Why do they continue? :)

Success and money is a drug like anything else. Once you get a taste, you want more.
:2 cents:

The number one reason is lack of proper DNA, you need to have jew, chinese or east-indian brains to succeed in business :2 cents:

I certainly agree about the fear bit. Even now when thinking about starting a project much different than something I already do I have to tame that fear of risk. If you don't overcome that everything is doomed.

The biggest mistake new business owners don't realize, is HOW 10+ other companies control their business and can destroy it overnight.

Banks
Proccessors
Suppliers

Being the biggest ones...


For instance...
You sell T-Shirts, you have a great supplier.... he does great work at a decent cost
He dies, new guy comes in and realizes this is way to cheap.. Raises the price,
this reflects on your end in which case you were selling cheap, now all your profits are
gone, you raise prices, but all of a sudden your sales drop 50% and your out on your ass

I agree totally.

Great post!!

Courage is not the lack of fear.
It's the ability to overcome it.

from time to time im still struggling with work day rythm, motivation and lazyness. Especially on the mondays i never feel like doing work and end up doing nothing all day (today same thing)
its not as bad as a few years ago though, that was rediculous... i would do nothing for several months until i was practically out of money and HAD to work. Im glad ive passed that station lol.

DUDE you just have read my mind :)

Well my biggest problem is to establish routine.I start working on something,one hour pass then i forgot on it and day pass.And months go and go.I simply cant reach the point of non-stopping valid work.Otherwise i would already have nice pile of cash.But again,it is not everything in money.

This was a good one.

Read the EMyth and discover a few things ShoeBitch didn't mention.

Its not him

he is stealing pics and posting URLs of some web millionaire guy (i think he owns plentyoffish.com)

I already stated that bitch. Read the fucking thread.

No. He doesn't.

He owns fighters.com, and some big ringtone site. Nextelpimp or something to that effect. He also started auctionads, and sold it off.

Some very good points in this thread. Most of them should flick a persons "common sense" switch at outset because anyone with self employed inclinations should at least possess self motivation and have an understanding of basic business elements.

Peaks and troughs are a given with almost any business and one of the most important lessons I learned was to have funds for leaner times and save when times were good. A positive cash position is essential to operate a successful business (it does at least make it a lot easier and less stressful lol).

great thread!:thumbsup

sorry, I wouldn't be taking advice from shoe boy. Wonderful, he has a nice check from google. Big deal. How long has google been around?
shoe boy can be a flash in the pan. If anyone is interested, I'll scan one of my monthly check stubs from worldcom for $1.6 mil.
Before I take shoeboys advice, I'd need to know how he ran his own business for the last 20yrs.
:winkwink:

Here's my advice:
don't be mesmerized by a big check or two. Short term luck looks like profound experience to the untrained eye.

toe hee
:winkwink: