The Fragility of Small Business

Like any measurable thing, businesses can be categorized into scaleable and quantitative groups. For instance, they can be categorized by demographics, or by the amount of jobs they create. They can be sorted by the amount of revenue they generate, by the amount of stock holders they have, by the products that produce, or by their marketing budgets. There are the major league players like Microsoft, Wal Mart, and Google, there are the mid-sized businesses (that still seem huge) like Post Net, Big-O Tires, and Pier One, and then there are the little guys. I mean the really little guys. You know the ones who “claim” to be businesses and who just barely qualify on paper as “legitimate” businesses. Sure they produce products and provide services, but generally speaking, the only difference between them and the average employee is which hour you happen to catch them working. It is this latter category that, ironically, makes up most of America’s economy. Strange, isn’t it? The big businesses make more money when compared side by side, but collectively it is the small (sometimes only technically) businesses that drive the national economy. How is this possible? Well, there are just that many of us out there. Folks like me who have great ideas, dreams, and aspirations, but not much clout. Many of us are starting from scratch. it’s all about good timing and being ready to welcome opportunity when it knocks on our door.

They say that 90% of small businesses fail within their first year. After that first successful year, they say that 90% of those fail within the next 5 years. I think failure and success are both relative terms. At the risk of sounding cliché, the only true measure of one’s success or failure is one’s own goals and aspirations. Those goals and aspirations are determined by commitment, optimism, and patience. Like all the other non-believers of the get-rich-quick method, I’m in this for the long haul and I know it’s going to take a long time before I see the results I’m looking for. It’s takes time to build a strong business infrastructure and system. I don’t expect to be wealthy overnight, but I do expect that it’s somewhere along the path I’m on. I just need to stay on the path and push....hard.

I’m in my 2nd year of business as a corporation. However, I’ve been working as a hobby business for about 6 years now. One might say I’ve beaten the odds of surviving longer than the 1 to 5 year life expectancy of a small business. Although, one might also argue that I haven’t been involved in the real business world long enough to have any measurable track record. Again, I think it comes down to perspective.

Why is it that most small businesses fail so early on anyway? I mean, why is it that so many well-intentioned, hard working, smart, and talented people’s business ventures go belly-up shortly after beginning? Businesses are like trees. They start out small, fragile and vulnerable. Expecting a business to start out generating massive amounts of money right from the beginning is as about as smart as expecting a newly planted sprout to start producing fruit in its first season of growth. They need lots of attention at first. Attention and NOT much expectation. Just like a new plant needs lots of sun light, fertile soil and water to grow, a business needs dedication, ambition, optimism, and conviction.

So, why am I writing about the fragility of small businesses today, you might be wondering? Well, today I feel small. Determined and confident, but very small. I guess I'm probably still trying to establish my own roots in the soil I find myself in. I'm still trying to look at my business' potential instead of seeing the current status of my fragile sprout. I'm trying to remain satisfied my pace as the torus, and not the hare.

I've learned...
That inspiration comes when it will. While I don't believe you can FORCE yourself to have good ideas, I certainly DO believe that you can help the process along. The implementation of "The Breakthrough Principle" has worked just about every time. In a nutshell, this theory states that once you've exhausted your mental resources, you should "walk away" from the project. This will allow your subconscious to work out the block while you're otherwise engaged...similar to when you dream while sleeping.

I'm glad...
That I discovered CNDD and have been able to help other identify it in those around them.

I wish...
I had the tenacity to quit my job today and work full-time investing in my own ideas.

I will...
Try harder to distinguish between what is urgent and what is important...and then do what is important FIRST.