Why Do Small Businesses Fail?

It is no longer news that 99% of all new  small business venture started all over the world fail in the first ten years. Now since the dream of every entrepreneur is to build a successful business, I have tactfully highlighted 3 major reasons why small businesses fail and how you can bulletproof your business against them. Join me as I expose these business killers:

1) Lack Of Managerial Skill: When a small business owner lacks the managerial skills required to drive the business to greater heights, the  small business is bound to fail. An entrepreneur that wants to succeed must be able to effectively handle the employees, cash flow, production line and so on, or better still, the  small business owner must be able to hire a good manager to run the business.

2) Wrong Business Decisions: This is common to everyone irrespective of your field. Sometime ago a friend of mine, after carrying out critical analysis on a particular situation came up with a decision he considered favorable. But on implementing that decision, it back fired and at the end of the day, my friend had several lawsuits dangling on his neck.

So whenever you decide on an action to be implemented on your  small business, consider asking friends, business partners and professionals for advice. It is going to save you the stress of cleaning up the mess resulting from wrong business decision taken.

3) Harsh Government Economic, Fiscal And Monetary Policy: Hmmmm, this is an open killer of both big and small businesses. As an entrepreneur, You must be on guard to bulletproof your business against the ever changing government fiscal and monetary policies.

Since you cannot influence or alter the government’s decisions, you must be prepared to swiftly adjust your small business to align with the government rules. This will help prevent it from being hit by the adverse effect of unfavorable government policies. Instances of such government policies and effects you must keep an eye on are tax matters, double taxation, duties and levies, inflation, exchange rates and so on.

Importance of Having a Well Crafted Business Plan

A business plan can be defined as a detailed document which describes all the major aspects of an existing business, or a start-up business. It carries all the information regarding the particular business, from goals and strategies, to financing and marketing plans. For this very reason, it is extremely important for every business to have a business plan before it starts.

This plan is one of the most essential items that are required while looking for investment capital or for a loan. Anybody investing in the business or people responsible to loan money will require all the information about the business. They will want to analyze the scope of the business, the goals stated, and the steps that are planned to achieve the goals. Based on the provided information in this plan, investors and officials determine the chances of the business to succeed. This plan is especially important to maintain if the company is looking forward to attract venture capitalist.

Nonetheless, a business plan is not only used for getting loans. It can also be used by businesses to have a planned out road map of the goals that are to be achieved. It is also of great help in improving the productivity of a company. A well drafted business plan also allows the business owner to review and revise the strategies according to the current trends. This way, he or she has the liberty of improving the ones which are beneficial and discarding the ones which are not.

What Should Your Business Plan Have? While making the business plan, it’s important to make that it is interesting, facts based and explains in detail each and every facet of your business. After all, this is the plan which will determine your chances of getting investment or loans for your business.

Ten Most Common Mistakes in Business Planning

Raising capital is hard enough as it is. Don’t make it even harder by committing any of these common business plan mistakes.

1. Financial Projections are Too Optimistic – Entrepreneurs always say they are “conservative” but you just aren’t

2. Business Plan is Too Long – Stay under 30 pages.

3. Executive Summary is Too Long- 2 pages or less

4. All Paragraph Format – Use bullet points, graphs, tables etc. Should not look like a novel.

5. Using a Generic Template – Investors want to see YOUR business plan. Using a template might make it look like some sort of canned business plan

6. Using a Consultant to Write the Entire Plan – Consultants can certainly help, but you need to write your own business plan. Who knows your business better than you?

7. Top Down Financial Projections – Don’t start from the top saying if we can get just 1% of the market… Start from the bottom and show exactly how you plan to capture 1% of the market.

8. No Focus on Cash Flow – As a startup cash flow is probably the most important single factor for the survival of your small business. Focus on it closely

9. Exponential Growth Projections – Most businesses do not grow exponentially like Silicon Valley darlings like Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare. Be realistic.

10. Poor Pricing – Price your product or service based on extensive research. Too low and you are not profitable, too high and you can’t make a single sale.

Proper Office Etiquette

Proper Office Etiquette
To work successfully with others in a productive atmosphere, it is advisable to conduct yourself complying to long-established conventions. This way you gain the confidence, respect and cooperation of people whom you work with, whom you work for.
Here are some practical sample scenarios to illustrate the various aspects of proper office etiquettes.

Ethics
It is more serious than just being impolite to discuss with outsiders a colleague's secret romance. Organizations must maintain a degree of privacy and confidentiality. Gossip is undesirable in any case. The one safe rule is never gossip about coworkers and never to discuss company business outside the immediate office.

Security
Keep important documents and file folders under lock and guard the keys to them. Do not leave vendors or visitors alone in someone's private office while the owner is away. Take time to dispose material properly, e.g. shred them. Anything thrown into a wastebasket can easily be retrieved by someone else.

Personal Habits
Annoying habits such as pencil swirling, mumbling make an unfavorable impression on others. Often people are unaware that they have bad habits that irritate others. Ask yourself these questions as a gauge:

When you talk with someone, do you pay attention to the person or stare at your feet?

Are you still talking or mumbling when walking away from a person?

Do you drum your knuckles on the desk when you become impatient or bored?

Do you interrupt people before they finish speaking or impatiently complete the thoughts of slow speakers?

Courtesy
Hold the doors and wait for others who are approaching and thank those who do this for you. People holding packages should be aware not to jostle others carelessly. Be sensitive to allow space for others and step aside for those who are leaving.

Environmental Tidiness
Sloppy housekeeping presents a poor image. Your clients will associate you with carelessness in work and think twice about giving you business. Coffee spills and breadcrumbs all over a desk are signs of sloppiness and drive your clients off. They like to deal with people who present themselves as orderly and careful, not having to worry about materials entrusted to you.
Appearance
Experts recommend that you dress for the job you want, not the one you hold. Different offices observe a varying degree of formality, follow the example of others in your office. Neat and conservative attire is good taste. Good posture and cleanliness are essentials. Clean fingernails, clean sleeve cuffs are no trivials. Hairstyles should be relatively conservative too. Attend to grooming in the rest room. Avoid heavy colognes or perfumes, which may be offensive to some people.

Do’s and Don’ts in Starting a Small Business

Small scale businesses are easier to set up compared to the middle or large scale businesses that require more time, feasibility reports, adequate financing, logistics and manpower development. Small is beautiful. For a small business enterprise, with careful planning and little resources deployed; success is always guaranteed. However, the law of success must be fully obeyed in order to get the desire result. This law has the do’s and don’ts. Enjoy the benefit of a booming business following the “do’s” and avoid the un-pleasant sanctions from the “don’ts”

Do’s

1. Start a business venture you know more about.

2. Separate business income from personal income

3. Always save and spend less than the income generated.

4. Pay the tithe of your business.

5. Buy when people sell; sell when people buy.

6. Learn and gain more experience from your business.

7. Think before you buy!

8. Make discoveries; find out more about your business.

9. Give more time and attention to your business.

10. Hire the best staff for your business. No sentiments.

DON’TS

1. Don’t personalize your business; solicit staff ideas.

2. Don’t be over worked; create leisure time.

3. Avoid gossip, backbiting, and undue favoritism to staff.

4. Avoid compulsive purchases; plan and budget for the things to buy.

5. Don’t buy, if you only need it for a while; rent it or lease it.

6. Don’t be too bureaucratic in your operations.

7. Don’t abuse business goodwill; pay off creditors.

8. Don’t build castles in the air; don’t spend unearned profit.

9. Don’t kill the chicken that lays the golden egg; encourage growth.

10. Don’t be afraid of competition; be innovative and add more value.

Every business can benefit from the skills of a business manager

Nearly every business can benefit from the skills of a business manager. This will help them achieve success in every venue, making their business take off and grow. Few business owners are actually trained in this area, so often they will hire the help of someone who is, or they may choose to send an employee to a few business management courses. While start-up businesses usually have small budgets, a smart owner will recognize the importance of a professional in this area. In fact, the success rate for businesses that have a trained business manager is much higher than others.
There are many institutions that offer classes on business management. Degrees in this field are available from technical schools, small colleges, and large universities. However, a growing number of individuals are choosing the online school for their management training.
The Internet is a vast resource that is growing daily. And one of the newer discoveries is the online college. Degrees in nearly every subject are obtainable from accredited online schools, and the level of convenience and flexibility that is available by taking courses online is quite attractive to many.
Many well known colleges are also jumping on trend and offering online classes to those who are interested. Online education is expected to experience rapid growth over the next few years, and employers recognize the validity of degrees obtained in this manner, especially from the accredited schools.
Someone interested in becoming a business manager will need a degree to get their career started. And even if they already have a job, a family, or other commitments requiring a lot of their time, they can now take classes online, whenever their schedule permits.
The available jobs on the market for this field are growing almost daily. This is a field that is ever-changing, and educated professionals are needed to manage businesses efficiently.

It hurts me.... Does this hurt u ?

It hurts me.... Does this hurt u ?

The India cricket team bus. & DON'T MISS the VIJAY RATH

Now lets have a look at the luxury our commandos had after their 60 hr sleepless battle!!!
                     
 

The Black Cat (NSG) commando bus after operation at TAJ .

WHICH VICTORY WAS CRITICAL ??

What a shame and disgrace to every citizen of India that the elite NSG
Force was transported into ordinary BEST buses,
whereas our cricketers are transported into state of the art
luxury buses, these Jawans lay down their lives to protect every
Indian and these cricketers get paid even if they lose a match,
we worship these cricketers and forget the martyrdom of these brave Jawans.
The Jawans should be paid the salaries of the cricketers
and the cricketers should be paid the salaries of the Jawans.


Huh... This is
our India ....
Please be a human being and forward this to everyone u know.
Please forward to as many as you can , in the hope it reaches to someone who can make a difference.

Do not worry about those who have come thru boats...
Our forces can easily defeat them.
WORRY about those who have come thru votes....
Those are our REAL ENEMIES.. ,
Guys lets utilize our votes sensibly , that's the least we can do.
Pass it on if u r hurt to so we can spread d msg of logical voting.
Jai Hind.

A Hurt Indian