Having now worked with literally thousands of business owners, you see common traits in the ones that have a successful business and the ones that don’t. Below you’ll see some of the reasons why many business owners fail.
The good news is that you don’t have to be one of them. Simply do the opposite and you’ll succeed.
1. Lack of Vision
I find that most people don’t really have a clear picture of exactly what they see in the future for their business. They may have vague ideas in their head like, ‘I want to be successful’ or ‘I want to make money’, but it’s not all that clear and it’s certainly not written down on paper.
So, if you’re going into business for yourself or run one right now, let me ask you: “How clear is your business vision?” And, “Have you committed it to paper?” If not, I would really encourage you to do this. For me, when I became very clear about what I wanted to achieve, my business doubled over the following 12 months.
Even though this idea is simple, it’s incredibly powerful.
2. Not Enough Education
While going into business has huge amounts of personal and financial rewards, it is not without its risks. And there are some people that lose large sums of money. However if you want to calm the rocky seas and have a smoother ride through your business career, it is not only important but absolutely critical that you get educated.
I’m talking about reading books and magazines, listening to audios in the car, attending every seminar and workshop that you can, and having mentors you can constantly learn from. Remember, as many wise and successful people have said: “The more you learn, the luckier you get.”
3. The Wrong Strategy
Often I meet business owners that are working hard, but are not getting the results that they want. After chatting with them, I soon discover that their strategy is completely off and they are effectively trying to push a boulder up a hill – meaning they are moving forward but it’s taking way more effort than required.
Instead, when you have the right strategy working for you in your business, everything flows. You achieve results so much faster, because you are working with gravity and not against it. So how do you find the right strategy?
Well, quite simply, you find it by talking to other successful business owners. Rather than persisting with the slow and expensive ‘trial and error’ method, find others that have achieved great results and ask them for their input and advice.
Successful people are successful because they have been through more crap than anyone else
4. Lack of Resilience
When starting out in business I had this belief that successful people were successful because they somehow got lucky and they hadn’t faced the same challenges as everyone else. However, I have since discovered that successful businesses and people are successful because they have been through more crap than anyone else.
What I mean is: even in successful businesses, stuff goes wrong. A marketing campaign bombs, a key staff member leaves, your computers get hit with a virus, etc. When this happens, you could let it affect you for weeks or even months. Or, you can just accept it, deal with it quickly and move on.
I know sometimes that moving on is easier said than done, but it is critical to business success that you do.
5. Not Staying the Course
One of my mentors once said: “Anyone can get rich quick in business, as long as your definition of quick is ten years.” You see, there is no such thing as an overnight success. Most successful business owners I know have built their company over a period of time (normally 7-10 years).
So while I wish you rapid success, don’t be disappointed if it doesn’t happen right away. Keep going, keep learning and keep making changes. Remember: “In the race to success, anyone can win if you just stay in the race.”
