Small Business Q & A: The Business Failed, But Did You?

Q: After years of dreaming about starting my own business, I
finally took the plunge a little over a year ago. To say the
least, my dream quickly became a nightmare. The business didn't
do nearly as well as I had hoped. I ran out of money within six
months and had to take out a second mortgage on my house just to
keep things going. I have now closed the business and am left
with a pile of bills that will probably put me in personal
bankruptcy. I don't mean to take it out on you, but instead of
telling people how great having your own business is all the
time you should also warn them that starting a business is not
easy and can be devastating when things go wrong.
-- Gene K.

A: Gene, I hope that I have never given anyone the impression
that having your own business is a walk in the park. To the
contrary, I'm like the proverbial Chicken Little when it comes
to warning readers of the obstacles and pitfalls that await
those considering the entrepreneurial plunge.

To quote myself from a column I wrote earlier this year, "If it
was easy, my friend, everybody would do it."

Just to make sure we're in agreement, let me reiterate the
standard warnings once again. Starting a business is incredibly
hard work. It takes long hours and deep pockets. It demands
unbridled passion and unquestioned commitment. It requires
that you give of yourself until you often feel there is nothing
left to give. And sometimes, even after you've done all that
you can do and given all that you can give, the business fails.

Period.

Blood, sweat, and tears can only carry you so far in the business
world. Good intentions and grand ideas won't pay the office
rent. You can not make payroll with Monopoly money.

I certainly don't mean to make light of your situation. In fact,
I know exactly how you feel. I failed so miserably my first time
in business that I swore I would never think about working for
myself again. All I wanted to do was to find a nice, secure
9-to-5 job that provided me with a nice steady paycheck. I
yearned for the opportunity to grow fat and happy on someone
else's payroll for a change.

I never again wanted to have to think about customers or
employees or withholding taxes or accounts receivable or
anything else even remotely associated with being in business.

I just wanted to crawl in a hole and die because my business had
failed, and in my All-American, macho male, "you are what you
do" brain that meant that I was a failure, too.

Getting over the failure of a business can be extremely difficult,
especially if you are one of those entrepreneurs (like I was) who
wrongly relates the success or failure of a business to the
success or failure of you as a person.

The best way that I know of to get over the failure of a business
(and the deep feelings of personal failure that go along with it)
is to do an autopsy of the business to help find out exactly what
went wrong. Only by discovering our weakness can we build on
our strengths (Yogi Berra eat your heart out).

It took a long time and an enormous amount of reflection to
realize that the business had failed for many reasons, not simply
because I was a miserable excuse for an entrepreneur. I wasn't
looking to shuck the blame so much as simply trying to understand
what really went wrong. A few years later when I mustered the
courage to take the plunge again, I did so with the knowledge
gained from my first failed business. I knew what I had done
wrong and I knew what I'd done right. Lessons learned, put to
good use. Knock wood, this time so far, so good.

Performing an autopsy on a failed business is a simple process,
but one that can reveal a wealth of information that you can use
should you ever decide to step out onto the business high wire
again.

To do your business autopsy find a quiet place where you can sit
and reflect on the life of your business. With pen and paper in
hand (or laptop on lap) write down everything that you can think
of that went right with the business and alternatively, everything
that went wrong. Your goal is to create a "Success" versus
"Failure" spreadsheet that will help you better understand
exactly why the business went south.

For the autopsy to be effective, it is imperative that you are
completely honest with yourself. Shove your ego in a drawer
and be completely realistic or the autopsy will just become
an exercise in futility. You will end up looking for scapegoats
instead of reasons.

If your lack of experience was a contributing factor to the
failure of the business, write it down. If your brilliant
negotiating skills allowed you to close a big deal and beat
out a competitor, write it down. If you were undercapitalized
or incorrectly estimated your share of the market, write it down.
If you had a partner who didn't pull his weight or a product
that didn't sell as well as you thought it would or your building
was flattened by an earthquake, write it down.
Write it all down.

Once you have all the facts in front of you, it's easy to see why
the business really failed. You might be surprised to find out
that the failure of the business wasn't completely your fault,
after all.

Then again, you might discover that the business failure was your
fault. If that turns out to be the case, don't beat yourself
up for long. Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur and
that's OK.

The world would be a miserable place if everyone sat around
whining about their lack of customers or complaining about
their employees.

Next time we'll take a look at the primary reasons businesses
fail and discuss how you might avoid them.

Here's to your success.

Tim Knox
tim@dropshipwholesale.net
For information on starting your own online or eBay business,
visit http://www.dropshipwholesale.net