Prevent Business Failure By Cultivating A Positive Attitude

I wrote a list of top 6 reasons why businesses fail on the Self Starters Weekly Tips forum a few weeks ago. Forum owner Lynn Terry then published the list on her blog, Click Newz.

At your request, I’m providing answers to these problems based on my years of experience with selling products and services online.

This time, we’ll talk about the #5 reason businesses fail.

#5 Negative Attitude

In a certain corner of the Internet, exercising a negative attitude is considered an art form. Most of those people are not entrepreneurs, and certainly not successful business owners.

If you’re part of that corner, I recommend you get out now. I did and it completely changed my business — and my life.

I can look back now and see how my negative attitude impacted my family AND my business.

My dad used to say: Can’t never did do anything. How right he was.

As business owners, we often look at the success of others and think, “I can’t do that.” Or we look at a tough project we’re facing (like getting any kind of work done while the kids are out of school for the summer) and think, “I can’t possibly do that.”

My Solution: Stop thinking up reasons why you can’t succeed, why you can’t start your business, why you can’t pay for a professional site design or hire a business coach.

Start thinking about how you CAN do succeed. You may not be able to succeed in the same way someone else did. Your definition of success might be different than someone else’s. But if you have a positive attitude and follow the previous advice, such as take action, then you will be head and shoulders closer to success than the rest of the pack.

If you’re struggling with a negative attitude and would like some help focusing on a positive plan of action, I’d love to help. Just schedule a business coaching session with me and I’ll help you see your business in a new light.

Prevent Business Failure By Planning Ahead

I wrote a list of top 6 reasons why businesses fail on the Self Starters Weekly Tips forum a few weeks ago. Forum owner Lynn Terry then published the list on her blog, Click Newz.

At your request, I’m providing answers to these problems based on my years of experience with selling products and services online.

This time, we’ll talk about the #4 reason businesses fail.

#4 Lack Of Planning

Recent advances in Internet speed and availability, and online software has made it incredibly easy to hang your shingle, so to speak, on the internet.

What ends up happening though is someone has a great idea. They run over to Watersweb Shops and buy a Shop Kit Plus. They hire Kristine to create a web design. They upload photos of their products that they’re selling through a dropshipping program.

And then they get stuck. They have no idea who they’re marketing to, where they’re going to find website visitors, much less customers.

Perhaps they muddle along and find some customers, or perhaps they lucked into having a built-in target market because they are well-known at an online forum. The next thing they know, people are buying their stuff like hotcakes and they can’t keep up with it.

A friend of mine had this problem with her diaper cake business. She made awesome diaper cakes and acheived a #1 ranking in the search engines. But success killed the business. She found herself, her kids and her husband struggling to fill the orders.

If she had had a plan for growing her business and handling success, she would have been able to outsource her production, train employees or subcontractors to take care of the overload.

Lack of customers and website traffic is not the only thing that will kill your business. Sometimes success will too, unless you plan for it.

My Solution: Plan to outsource, create a business plan and create a marketing plan. If you need help with your business plan, you can easily create one in just a couple of hours with One Page Business Plan.

If you’re not sure where you want to go, or need help solidifying your ideas, I’d love to work with you and help you. Just contact me through my business coaching page.

Prevent Business Failure By Outsourcing

I wrote a list of top 6 reasons why businesses fail on the Self Starters Weekly Tips forum a few weeks ago. Forum owner Lynn Terry then published the list on her blog, Click Newz.

At your request, I’m providing answers to these problems based on my years of experience with selling products and services online.

This time, we’ll talk about the #3 reason businesses fail.

#3 Life

We’ve all been there — kids get sick, we get sick, husband gets laid off… you name it. In my case, moving more than a dozen times in the past 12 years tends to put a cramp in my style. It’s hard to get my work done when part of my office is in the new house, part in the old house and part in a pile of boxes. ARGH.

Some business owners have let their busineses die for more serious reasons, like a car accident, a very sick child, a spouse who is ill, and more.

Unfortunately, we never know when these things are going to happen.

My Solution: As business owners, we have a responsibility to ourselves, our families and our customers to make sure our business is setup so that it can function with out us for a bit. Or, at least without our hand in it on a daily basis.

What this involves is outsourcing. Whether it’s checking email, answering helpdesk tickets, responding to questions on a forum or updating your website, a virtual assistant can ensure that your business keeps running, even if you’re off having a baby, moving across country or recovering from an illness.

Even if the business is one where only you can produce a unique item, like lampwork beads, your assistant can answer your customer’s emails, letting them know what is going on and when you are expected to return and finish their orders. Communication is key in these situations, and will make the difference between a business that thrives and one that dies in a sea of negative comments and bad reputation.

If you’re interested in exploring outsourcing, I’d like to recommend my VA, Stephanie Fish of BuckeyeVA.com.

Prevent Business Failure By Practicing Patience

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a list of top 6 reasons why businesses fail on the Self Starters Weekly Tips forum. Owner of the forum, Lynn Terry, also published the list on her blog, Click Newz.

Some of you requested answers to these top reasons businesses fail, so I’m providing answers based on my years of experience with selling products and services online.

This time, we’ll talk about the #2 reason businesses fail.

#2 Impatience

This one is  a biggy. I struggle with it — knowing where I want to go and wanting to be there RIGHT NOW. In my case though, I start looking for things to do. The problem occurs, however, when people look at their goals, look at where they are, and decide to quite.

Sometimes you read stories about how a baby sling seller built a thriving business in 18 months or less. Or how one day a cloth diaper seller’s client told a friend about her store, and the friend told a magazine editor she knew and the next thing, the cloth diaper business was booming.

My opinion, both those ways are harder than just being patience and taking one step at a time, much like the tortoise, if you know what I mean.

The solution: Take one step at a time. Evaluate everything you do to make sure it is taking you towards your goals. Even when it seems like you’re working for nothing and you might as well just quit — ask for help.

If you know people who are already successful in business and you can bend there ear, ask for advice for an hour, give them a call and pour out your heart.

Or, you can call a business coach (Like me!) and seek advice. It often helps to have someone on the outside, who understands what you’re trying to do, take a look at your business and give you advice to rejuvenate your enthusiasm.

Prevent Business Failure By Taking Action

I recently wrote a list of top 6 reasons why businesses fail, which I published on the Self Starters Weekly Tips forum. Owner of the forum and long-time Internet Marketer Lynn Terry also published the list on her blog, Click Newz.

Some of my readers requested answers to these top reasons businesses fail. What can you do to prevent your business from failing for these reasons?

I’ll start with the #1 reason businesses fail today, and will continue with a six-part series.

#1 Lack Of Action

This reason often dooms a business to failure before it even starts. As I said originally, some people will read all kinds of websites and ebooks, but never put what they learn into action.

I also see some of my clients who have actually took the step of purchasing a website — but never went any further. Others loaded their products and site design, but stopped short of actually letting other people know about the site.

The solution: Take action! It’s better to take a wrong action and learn from it, than no action at all. You can’t possibly know all the answers without any experience. Get out there and do your best. Then listen to your customers. Once you start receiving feedback from the people in your target market, you’ll know what you need to change and how you can improve.