‘When a new business owner is ruled by emotions the ability to make rational decisions is hampered. The primary sign that a business owner has resorted to emotions is the absence of any document whatsoever that reflects the purpose of the business. For those who are not literate, this manifests when they cannot explain why they want to start a business beyond the need of “keeping busy”.’
WE have considered two major scenarios about how people start businesses that are bound to fail ab initio in the first two parts of this series. If we were to summarise the reasons what we could deduce from the two scenarios it would be emotions. Taking business decisions, based on feelings, instead of well considered facts, is a major shovel that digs the grave of a new business before the first transaction is recorded.
When a new business owner is ruled by emotions the ability to make rational decisions is hampered. The primary sign that a business owner has resorted to emotions is the absence of any document whatsoever that reflects the purpose of the business. For those who are not literate, this manifests when they cannot explain why they want to start a business beyond the need of “keeping busy”.
A corollary to the absence of a purpose is a vague resort to spirituality which is expressed in a statement like, “God is working out something for me”. While I personally believe in the ability of God to do all things, it is not wise to embark on starting a business without knowing what God wants you to do.
Having made the above deductions, we proceed to discussing some other reasons why a business venture can be stillborn. When you start a business with the primary objective of making money you are setting yourself up for business failure. While the rewards of doing a good business includes money, its objective should not be about money. Doing business for the sole purpose of making money will make you compromise on standards and violate customer service care that your customers treasure. It is difficult to be ethical when financial returns are more important to you than the satisfaction of your customers.
Starting a business without defining the problem your business is established to solve is another way for your business to be dead on arrival. Essentially every business idea should be the result of a strong desire to solve a problem. If your business is not providing solutions that are valuable, accessible and affordable for your identified customers you will lack patronage. The longer your business lacks patronage, the earlier it goes into extinction.
In today’s world there are thousands of businesses in every given field. Competition is no longer just physical. For every competitor a business owner can see in the physical business environment there are over a thousand competitors online. This behoves an individual or organisation starting a new business to carry out a feasibility study. The purpose of a feasibility study is to assess the practicality of a proposed plan or project. You need to evaluate how viable your business will be in advance. It is important for you to determine how successful your business can be before you start. In the absence of a feasibility study everything done before starting a business is merely a guess work. I know that there are people who will argue that you don’t need a feasibility study before starting a business. I strongly believe that every business owner embarks on a feasibility study. The difference is that wise business owners carry out feasibility studies in advance while others do post mortem cum feasibility study after their businesses fail. When the owner of a failed business is trying to resuscitate the business the lessons applied as a result of a post mortem are synonymous to the steps you take based on a feasibility study. However this comes with avoidable pain and regrets.
If a business does not clearly identify its target market or customers, every Ada or Hadiza or Adunke looks like its customers. So, whatever each of them requests becomes what the business tries to unsuccessfully rovide. It is difficult to satisfy all customers in business. Every business must define its niche market and focus on it. You cannot just decide to meet the needs of all those who need plastic products as a business. How will you provide plastic toys, plastic cutleries, plastic wares, plastic bags, plastic bowls and buckets up to plastic tanks? Even if you can afford it, the enormity of the logistics coupled with the pressures of inventory management will make the venture stressful and ultimately unprofitable.
Those who do not believe in the “academic” exercise of crafting a vision, mission and core values for their business simply muddle through in the world of business as fringe contractors and traders. Every business that is not guided by a well thought out strategy, in the words of Jim Collins, is not built to last.
It is not unusual for small business owners to desire to start their businesses as big ventures. This aspiration puts them in a situation where the interest free funds accessible to them are not sufficient to start the business. Hence, the small business owners resort to taking loans with very high interest rates. I have seen small business owners who obtain loans at an interest rate above 40 percent. When you evaluate their core business you will discover, to your chagrin, that the profit margin of their core business per annum is less than 20 percent. It is obvious that such a business will not break even because it still has to take care of overhead costs and other direct business costs.
A business that cannot repay bank loans as at when due will incur more charges from default penalties. The capital of the business will be gradually eroded. Over time the business owner will lose concentration and grip on the business. When, like Nigeria, a business starts using more than 40 percent of its income to settle debts, the undertakers will be getting ready to pay the business, or its owner, a visit.
It is easy for a new business to fail. All that the business owner needs to do is to be careless and avoid rigorous thinking.
(To be continued).
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