Hello, peter96-ga!
You have asked about small businesses and small business owners in
terms of success. Since I am not sure whether you are about the
business or the entrepreneur, I have compiled some factual information
pertaining to both, since they are intimately tied.
===
From "Are You an Entrepreneur?," By Vicki M. Daughdrill. The Green Sheet
http://www.greensheet.com/PriorIssues-/041002-/12.htm
According to data published in March 2003 by Canada Business Service
Centre (www.cbsc.org), here are the top reasons people start a new
business:
Seize an opportunity - 17%
Personal accomplishment - 13%
Dream to run own business - 9%
Use experience/skills - 9%
Be own boss - 8%
Economic necessity to make living - 7%
Had previous experience - 7%
Supplement income from other employment - 5%
Create job for self - 4%
Frustrated in previous job - 3%
Make lots of money - 3%
Other - 15%
Why do businesses fail?
"According to a study published by Jessie Hagen of U.S. Bank and cited
on the SCORE - Counselors to America's Small Business Web site,
(www.foxcitiesbusiness.com/score/whybusinessesfail.htm), a nonprofit
association dedicated to entrepreneur education and the formation,
growth and success of small businesses nationwide, following are some
of the main reasons why businesses fail:
Lack of a solid business plan - 78%
Being overly optimistic about sales and required funds - 73%
Not recognizing or ignoring weaknesses and then not seeking help - 70%
Have insufficient or irrelevant business experience - 63%
Poor cash flow management skills/understanding - 82%
Start out with too little money - 79%
Not pricing properly - 77%
Not promoting the business properly - 64%
Not understanding or ignoring the competition - 55%
Too much focus/reliance on one customer - 47%
Not delegating properly - 58%
Hiring the wrong people - 56%
==
From The United States Small Business Administration website:
http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/startup/areyouready.html
In his book Small Business Management, Michael Ames gives the
following reasons for small business failure:
1:Lack of experience
2:Insufficient capital (money)
3:Poor location
4:Poor inventory management
5:Over-investment in fixed assets
6:Poor credit arrangements
7:Personal use of business funds
8:Unexpected growth
Gustav Berle adds two more reasons in The Do It Yourself Business Book:
9:Competition
10:Low sales
===
From "Entrepreneurship - An Alternate Career Choice," by By Nancy Michaels
(As seen in U.S. News & World Report) SCORE
http://www.score.org/entrepreneurship_career.html
"You?ve probably heard that start-up statistics are grim. The truth is
that just 30 percent of business start-ups survive more than five
years. Stories of overnight successes and young millionaires are
rare. The dot.com era ended two years ago, and venture capital money
is increasingly hard to secure. The hardworking, determined, visionary
who dedicates long hours and endless energy to his or her business is
the more realistic picture of today?s entrepreneur."
"Entrepreneurs face a myriad of internal and external challenges.
Within their companies, they need to offer a superior product or
service. They need to manage cash flow and maintain profitability and
hire and retain the right mix of people. Externally, factors such as
access to financing, the economy, government regulations, and
technological issues impact entrepreneurs on a regular basis."
* "One recent study of entrepreneurs (William E. Jennings, "A Profile
of the Entrepreneur") asked subjects to rank several traits and
attitudes related to business ownership in order of importance.
Results showed the most important attributes to be:
Perseverance
Desire and willingness to take initiative
Competitiveness
Self-reliance
Strong need to achieve
Self-confidence
Good physical health
"Filling out the bottom of the list were some surprising attributes,
including a strong desire for money, patience, organizational skills,
and a need for power. Today?s entrepreneurs are more interested in
competition and achievement than money or power."
===
From "Successful Entrepreneurs have Clear Ideas."
http://www.negocio.us/archives/2004/12/successful_entr.html
"Successful entrepreneurs have something that unsuccessful ones don't
have: the vision thing. Robert Baum, an assistant professor of
entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith
School of Business, studied fledgling small-business owners and found
that those who have a clear idea of how their companies will prosper
are often more successful."
"Baum studied about 120 entrepreneurs in central Pennsylvania over a
three-year period. Each envisioned running a business with 25 to 50
employees. Every six months, Baum and his assistants would talk to the
would-be entrepreneurs about their progress. Only 35 were able to turn
their business ideas into startups. Baum found that those who were
successful were dreamers with grand schemes. "People who have a vision
for a promising business that might employ 10 to 100 people are the
kind of dreamers who make it," Baum says. "The intensity of the vision
is important."
What other attributes are important?
"A lot of them are willing to make intuitive, fast decisions. It's
what we call the automatic compressed experience. They're willing to
go ahead and make a decision without all the information that they may
need. They're also not afraid to borrow - not just money, but people.
They'll say, "Come work for me. I can't pay you much now, but I'll pay
you a lot later." That's borrowing that person. The vision thing is
good leadership. People who have intense pictures in their minds of
what they are going to do, can speak with such enthusiasm that they
are able to attract people to work for them, even if they don't have
enough money to pay them. People are willing to say to these
entrepreneurs, "I'm willing to work for you because I believe in what
you're doing."
"We all know goals are important, but what makes successful
entrepreneurs' goals different?
"Let's say they're benchmarks. A person with an intense vision of
where they want to be in five or 10 years will have certain
benchmarks. They'll say, "I want to have my first sale in six months."
The vision of what they want to do in five to 10 years doesn't go away
or lose its intensity. But they're willing to change their benchmarks
along the way. They'll say, "I didn't do my first sale by Christmas,
but I'll do it by end of February." They have a rigid vision, but
they're willing to change their benchmarks."
"And the last thing is the willingness for experimentation. Most
entrepreneurs are short on money. Most are willing to take small steps
along the way to a big dream or vision. They'll take a small tentative
step, or make a small investment and watch how it turns out. If it
turns out badly, they'll make a change."
read further...
==
Also read "Successful entrepreneurs have some common characteristics,"
by Scott Clark. Houston Business Journal.
http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/1997/06/16/smallb3.html
Excerpts;
"If you think you've got what it takes to run your own show, read on
and see if you can identify with some common characteristics of
successful entrepreneurs.
* They are highly self-confident individuals with extremely high standards...
* They strive to maintain absolute control over their destinies...
* They are goal-oriented to a fault, and they cannot tolerate mediocrity or
failure...
* While they are willing to make great sacrifices to achieve success, they are
also impatient and bored by the planning and administrative aspects of their
companies, often ignoring these tasks.
* They have large egos needing to be nurtured...
* They are calculated risk takers...
* They are good communicators who can generate enthusiasm within others
because they believe so deeply in their cause..
* They are weak in money matters, seeing cash only as a means to an end,
rather than as an essential commodity needing to be constantly and carefully
monitored..
* Because they are so self-confident, energetic and driven to succeed, they
often perceive themselves as infallible..
* Above all, they are visionaries..
===
From "Daring Visionaries: How Entrepreneurs Build Companies, Inspire
Allegiance, and Create Wealth," by Ray Smilor. Beyster Institute.
http://www.beysterinstitute.org/includes/cfbin/output/article_slot_view.cfm?ID=84950
"Successful entrepreneurs have an ability to recognize and pursue
opportunity, what Smilor calls "the most fascinating and fundamental
aspect of entrepreneurial success, and one of the least understood
phenomena of the entrepreneurial process." Entrepreneurs "truly
believe in their ability to influence events, in their capacity to
direct destiny, in their power to shape the future," he suggests.
Effective entrepreneurs are "dreamers who do" - they're proactive and
optimistic with a "passion fueled by freedom and opportunity to pursue
their dreams." In fact, Smilor notes, most entrepreneurs are motivated
to go into business to be their own boss, not necessarily to make a
lot of money."
===
For a characteristic checklist of characteristics of Small Business
entrepreneurs, see "Starting a Small Business: The Feasibility
Analysis," by Micheal Reilly and Norman Millikin. College of Business,
Montana State University. http://www.montana.edu/wwwpb/pubs/mt9510.pdf
===
A survey of Arizona entrpreneurs highlights a variety of factors they
believe are critical to their success.
See "Arizona Entrepreneurs - Critical Factors To Success."
http://www.capital-connection.com/azsurveycriticalfactors.html
ADDITIONAL ARTICLES
====================
"Small Business Success Factors," BY Jim Blasingame.
http://www.smallbusinessadvocate.com/cgi-bin/articlesbybtsub.cgi?art=152
A Canadian Study provides some statistical research comparing young
entrepreneurs to non-entrepreneurs which may be of interest to you.
See "Comparisons Between Entrepreneurs and Non-entrepreneurs." Young
Entrepreneurs Study.
http://www.acoa.ca/e/business/entrepreneurship/youthstudy/index.shtml#6.1
Research Studies
------------------
Characteristics of Successful Small Businesses in Southern New Jersey.
http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/research/asbe/1999/02.pdf
* This study examines the characteristics of small business owners
=
"CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL WOMEN IN SERVICE AND RETAIL
BUSINESSES," by Don B. Bradley III, University of Central Arkansas and
Homer L. Saunders, University of Central Arkansas.
http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/research/ssbia/1989/PDF/06.pdf
==
I trust these references will provide you with the factors that
contribute to the success of small businesses, and the qualities
posessed by those who run them.
Sincerly,
umiat
Search Strategy
statistics AND successful entrepreneurs
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