Business Might Fail
But a Learner Will Always Win

By Dan Boudreau

You’ve probably heard this shocking statement many times – “95% of small businesses fail within the first 5 years.” It’s often cited in well intentioned business talks and articles designed to impress listeners about the challenges of owning a small business.

Each year I assist entrepreneurs to start and grow businesses. At any time, a scan of the small business landscape will reveal a variety of situations, business owners in transition. I’ve come to view businesses as evolutionary entities drenched in a process of continuous innovation, constantly trying new things, and persistently adapting to new information and conditions.

Sure, business is risky. But “95% failure within the first 5 years” doesn’t tell the full story. It might be more accurate to say that all businesses change, and while some will jump out of the gene pool; most of those changes are actually positive learning experiences and not failure at all.

There’s no shortage of reasons for entrepreneurs to change direction after getting into a business.

• Some will decide they don’t enjoy the challenge and will find they’re happier working for someone else.
• Some will sell the business and move on to greener pastures by getting into a different venture.
• Some will lose money and reconfigure their business until it becomes profitable; others will go broke.
• Some people have health or other difficulties that make it impossible to continue.
• Some folks will simply realize the business doesn’t create the lifestyle they need and so they’ll wrap it up and move on.

Is it really a failure when someone starts a business and then morphs into a different venture a year or two down the road?

A different outlook is to drop the word “failure” and instead view business development as a learning process. It’s a practice of discovering what works and what doesn’t, creating best practices, and continually adapting to the marketplace.

So, businesses might come and go, but the people who start and operate them win again and again. Each lesson is a gift that the entrepreneur can take forward into the next leg of the journey. At a personal level these are not failures, only lessons.

For the most part, great successes are simply accumulations of a vast number of changes that arise from unexpected results. Failure, or the fear of failure, doesn’t need to stop anyone from starting or growing a business. It’s a matter of cultivating the right attitude and taking action.

You are welcome to publish this article providing you attach this statement with the link back to the RiskBuster website:

“Dan Boudreau is President and CEO of Macrolink Action Plans Inc. and the RiskBuster Business Plan Oasis at http://www.riskbuster.com Writing your own business plan can be easy, fast and fun! Instantly download a free copy of Dan’s popular fast-track business plan template, The Shell, when you subscribe to the RiskBuster Business Plan Insider at http://www.riskbuster.com”

 

 

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