Increase Business Success Rate

If you're just starting out in a new business, you know that you face a number of hurdles before your business survives the first critical years where most new businesses fail. It's no easier in today's poor economic climate.



While governments cut back non-essential services and big businesses lay off workers to stay profitable, the private sector often steps in to produce jobs and keep the economy going. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), most job growth occurred in the private sector between 1993 and 2009.



Despite the gloomy economy, this may well be the best time to start and run your own business. After all, many well-known businesses had their beginnings in the depths of the Great Depression. The only thing you need to know is how to increase your success rate.



For the average man on the street a dismal economy means a loss of security. Projects and purchases need to be placed on the back burner while they hunker down to save what little they have. The entrepreneur, however, thinks differently as he always looks for opportunities to exploit. Running a business today can be devastating if you're not focuses on those opportunities.



A business plan is an absolute necessity no matter what the state of the economy. But in these times, your plan must be flawless if you hope to borrow from financial institutions. Well before you consider launching a new enterprise, you need to take a critical look at what your products are and whether there's a ready market for them. Pricing, promotion and customer service are key to any business  success. Poor economic conditions demand more, so your business should have a special angle, something that differentiates you from your competitors. Listing that angle on your business plan can increase your chances of getting a loan.



Many people feel they can “go it alone”. This approach may work in a booming economy, but today you'll need to make alliances with those people who can help your business prosper. Self esteem and confidence is fine to a point. It may get a business on the right track, but at some point, business begins to stagnate unless outside help is called in.



Too many see dollars and not reality when they start a business. They quit their jobs to devote full time to their new enterprise and often discover that that dream of making millions isn't as easy to come by as they thought. You can increase the success rate of your business by sticking with your employment and using some of your excess income to feeding your business.



No matter how wonderful your idea may be, your business can still fail. A business failure does not mark you incapable of running a business, but you need to realize that business failures often occur with first-time new businesses. Many successful businessmen have struggled through multiple failures to become household names. Study the lives of successful people like Henry Ford, Thomas Edison or Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame and you'll discover that failure doesn't need to be permanent. It can be the springboard to greater business success later on. 



The key to starting a new business is to be realistic, weigh your talents, your time and capital and use them to build the foundation necessary that increases your chances of success once you actually launch your business.