Tricky Truths in Small Business
Posted by: craigj under Uncategorized
Tricky Truths:
If you own a small business or are planning to, there are a few tricky truths you may be looking at.
The enthusiasm for small business startups is high and getting higher – but the success rate is low – 4 out of 5 are gone in 4 years.
So why do so many small businesses fail?
The SBA offers three reasons:
- Inadequate capital
- Inadequate experience
- Inadequate planning
For the next year, I’d be writing a small-business newsletter designed to meet conditions #2 and #3. (Sorry I can’t help with the capital!) I’d be looking at all the issues around building a small business that bedevil the entrepreneurs Why can’t you get good help? Why is everything urgent? Why are you working twice as hard and making half as much?
And there are the other issues’s should you incorporate, write a business plan, hire your dumb brother-in-law because he’ll work for next to nothing, and so forth.
Here’s an abbreviated outline’s the real deal runs 5 pages.
- Envisioning the business – plan no small plans around mission and vision.
- Creating the business – goals, corporations and incorporation, finance.
- Marketing- strategy and tactics.
- Writing your business plan – not easy, not hard either
- Building your human resources – choosing, training and managing
- Using experts – accountants, attorneys, consultants, coaches
- Market research – should you?
- Protecting intellectual property – copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade secrets
- Setting up your office - computers, phones, other equipment, people-needs
Are you still with me? Here’s a bonus – I’ll send you an idea for a self-assessment that surprises most entrepreneurs, and helps small businesspeople decide where to do it themselves, and where to ask for help. Just send an e-mail to craig@craigjennings.com.
