For most business owners, life is like an inflated balloon. As the business grows, the balloon gets bigger and bigger. At some point it pops - at least statistics indicate that the overwhelming majority of business balloons pop. And when that happens, everything that was in that balloon falls out, and all that is left is a few shards of rubber - or terrifying memories. But here is a question. If so many businesses fail - WHY do they fail?

After working in this field for the past 10 years - a field littered with small business corpses - there is only 1 factor that I find is absent in every single failure that I have seen. That same factor is present in every single success that I have seen. In my simple mind, that makes it worth looking at. So what is that factor?

I'm glad you asked. But you're not going to like the answer. Let me explain. As an entrepreneur, you are my business hero. Every day you invest your life in your business - more hours going into the business than going into any other aspect. And that time you invest magically creates money, which supports your staff, the government, and your family. Chances are that you're spending around 10 hours each day in the trenches. And chances are that the rest of your thoughts are focused on trying to cope with cash flow challenges, staff goggas, design issues and professional problems. You invest time in staying at the forefront of your chosen field. And throughout this entire process, your family suffers because they don't see you much. But they know that you're doing it for them.

And the harder you work, the harder it seems to get, doesn't it? No matter what you do, it always seems as if there is a conspiracy to hold you down. You never seem to have quite enough money to bail yourself out, clear the debts, and take a complete break. If it helps in any way - most of us business owners feel like that most of the time!

Take a break for a second and imagine this scenario. You're driving your car down the road when you hear a weird noise coming from the front of the vehicle. Because you're in a hurry you don't stop. Instead, while you're still driving, you open the bonnet and try and check out the engine. Of course, the car wanders wildly across the road while you're trying to drive and peer into the engine compartment. But, being pretty used to holding many balls in the air, you keep control [more or less]. You establish that the problem is with the front right tyre. So, while you're driving - because you're in a hurry [or have a deadline, or the month end looms, or the bank wants their money, or some other urgent reason...] - you try and change the front tyre while the car is still moving! Sounds insane, doesn't it? You'd never do something like that with your car, would you?

But that's what we're all doing with our businesses! Instead of stopping to check out the problem, or at least stopping every 2 hours to take a break, we keep driving this business vehicle as fast as we can. And real men don't need breaks, do they? [I use that term purely in its nonsexist form!]

And that's the distinguishing factor I mentioned earlier. The folk I see that are constantly under pressure, or whose businesses close - are like those drivers who try and do everything themselves, and simultaneously. As a result nothing ever quite gets finished, and they don't have enough time to even think about where they're going. They're simply too busy to see straight.

Here is a cold thought. If you have been in business for more than 2 years, and the business is still struggling - then I bet if you look at where you're choosing to spend your time you will find that 99.99% of your time is spent on the job. I know it's going to sound insane - but I promise that if you spend less time working on the job - and more time thinking about where you're going - you will prosper. In fact, if you think through where you want to go - and look at what you're doing each day - I bet you will find that most of your daily activity is actually conspiring against you getting where you want to go!

Your business vehicle needs a driver. You're it! That means that you should get a mechanic to deal with the problems - when they occur. Even if you know how to do everything - your job is to keep your eyes on the road. And you can't do that while you're messing with the engine! I know mechanics are expensive [accountants, attorneys, etc.] but don't discount the value of your own time. Time spent messing in the engine, is time spent not driving - and the car is effectively at a standstill if you're not driving. And mechanics - because they do nothing else - will always know more about engines than you do. If you ask them the right questions, they will surprise you with some excellent answers.

The single factor that distinguishes the successes from the failures - the happy entrepreneurs from the troubled business owners - is the amount of time they spend thinking about their business and their future. The successful folk spend more and more time dreaming about what they want to do, and putting in place the ideas and plans to get there. The unsuccessful folk are too busy to do that - and always will be too busy to be successful. Please take some time out now to dream and plan.

© Peter Carruthers, www.petesweekly.co.za

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