Why Your Startup Will Fail

One of the worst things that can happen, is to see your idea and vision not end up like the dream you had in mind. What’s worse than that is to see it not even come close to the vision you had in mind. I have had this happen multiple times and seen it happen multiple times. In fact, I am witnessing it with some of our clients with Premier Edge (just launched).

The rough estimate, giving by most popular business magazines and website, is that 90% of startups fail. However, the United States Small Business Administration says that 70% of small businesses have a chance to survive their first two years. The same administration adds that only 56% startups have a chance to survive 5 years. So that renders the 90% statistic false and over exaggerated.

However, you can still run a business that is nowhere near profitable for a long time. So when the title uses the word “fail”, it not only means to FAIL at that business altogether, but also to FAIL to make any money.

My very first startup was an errand service. I operated it for 4 months before I realized that it would not work. How did I realize it? Well after spending so much on advertising, pitching the business to potential customers, and realizing that I was not educated in entrepreneurship or marketing or sales, that it was over.

Which leads me to my first reason why your startup will fail…

You Know Nothing About Running a Business and Don’t Seek to Learn

For some reason most people think that they should just launch a business around what they love and that’s it. If you love gardening and flowers and decide to launch a business, don’t think that’s all you have to do. You have to learn basic sales techniques, basic marketing, basic accounting, etc. It is extremely sad when we get a client for Premier Edge (a digital marketing agency I co-founded with Tyre Owens) and they keep no track of their main customers, their highest selling product, or don’t even have a basic business plan.

What’s worse than that is a business owner that doesn’t care to learn these things. And not just the important subjects, but other subjects they can also use for business. For example, I love to read about body language and psychology. Is it necessary for me to learn that stuff for my businesses to succeed? Not really, but there have been multiple times my partner and I have been in a meeting and used body language indications to move the conversation or pitch in the right direction.

So always seek knowledge about your industry, business, accounting, sales and marketing techniques. These things will seriously improve your chances of running an extremely successful business.

You Can’t Take Constructive Criticism Well

It is absolutely annoying to see entrepreneurs who cannot take criticism. Rather it is from their co-founder, team, specific department, a third-party firm, or a mentor. If you cannot take criticism constructively and not get butt hurt or angry over it, then you might as well close-up shop. No point in continuing on because you’ll run the plane into the ground.

Who ever said they have made it by themselves is a liar. Gary Vaynerchuk, Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, and other successful entrepreneurs all have teams that steer them in the right direction when they go off course. As much as Gary Vaynerchuk teaches about business, you’d think he is never wrong. However, I know he has a team that tells him that this is not right or that this is not a good idea.

You’re in It for The Wrong Reasons

Over the last few years, there has been a portrayal in the media that every successful entrepreneur is driving Lambos and buying private jets. That being an entrepreneur guarantees you’ll be a millionaire very quick. So people jump into owning whatever type of business they can own because the news says this industry is hot right now. They are jumping into it for the money.

Or there is that entrepreneur who is doing it for something worse: popularity. They want everyone to know that they own their own business. They will spend majority of the time that they are “working” to post something on social media about them working. They are telling everyone they meet that they’re this amazing CEO with this amazing company that is bringing in a lot of mula. Unfortunately, most of the time it is the complete opposite. Their company is broke or in the negative. They are taking out investments and loans just to keep up with the façade they have created. They are in it for personal gain.

9 times out of 10, they come in a combination of the 2. Don’t be this kind of entrepreneur. Be the kind of entrepreneur that cares more about solving the problem their business is meant to solve. The one that focuses on giving value. The one that could care less about a title and care more about taking his company to the next level. Here is my theory (depending on the type of business and brand you’re running): if you are more popular than your business, then you’re doing something wrong. Even if you’re brand or business is about you (motivational speaker, author, actor, hairdresser, etc.), the first thing people should think of is the business you do, not about you as a CEO or Creative Director or whatever title you give yourself.