95% of Businesses Fail inside of 2 years (actual stats may vary)

But that shouldn’t stop you from starting your own. What if you’re in the 5% (or whatever number it is) that actually does succeed. There’s always more room for startups. And if you’re smart and have the determination to keep fighting then there’s a good chance you could wind up doing what you love doing. That’s where the high number of failures comes from. People just don’t have the drive. It takes a lot of hard work to build a business from the ground up, especially if it’s your first one, since you have to learn all the ropes.

It all comes down to finding your passion. You love going out and drinking at bars? Then start something related to that. Find your passion in life and start building a business around it. That’s when you have the best chance of succeeding. Steve Jobs didn’t start Apple just because he thought it would grow into one of the most profitable companies in the world. He started it because he loved working and inventing the new technology.

Once you find your passion, write down all the business models you can think of that would work in your niche. Then narrow it down to the one you think will dominate your niche and put it into action. After getting your feet wet, you see what works and what doesn’t. Then you need to change. That’s another big factor that causes businesses to fail in my opinion. Take Wal-Mart for example. A huge giant that, once the internet became popular, didn’t invest heavily enough in my opinion. Jeff Bezos saw an opportunity and founded one of the largest online retailing sites, Amazon.com.

Don’t focus too large at the beginning. When you think too big too early, you’ll find it gets really hard to get even the small stuff done. Slow your role, your business valuation will come some day. Just focus on dominating a small niche. Then, once you accomplish that, go bigger. And change and adapt. I think that is one of the most under taught areas in business schools. Change and adapt.

Don’t let statistics stop you from starting your dream. There’s always room for more startups. Corporate America is dying and small businesses are taking over the world. Find your passion, dominate your niche. In a world of expansion, local seems to become more and more into play in people’s daily lives.