Starting your own business can yield amazing rewards but at the same time its a pretty big risk. I was recently asked in the Q&A why people fail at starting their own businesses. I came up with several reasons and wanted to expand more on this.
Fear – Its balls out to quit your day job and start your own company. There are no guarantees. It took me 4 years to take the plunge and a huge push from my wife to do it and I never quit my day jobs… I got canned.
Excuses – This is the #1 reason people do not ever get started. People will always think of reasons not to be successful.
Stress – Owning your own business is stressful. Especially when you grow and have employees. I am very hands on and always want to do all the work myself… but its just not possible. Plus I have employees that are just better at many things then I am and I need to let them do the job. Then you have the financials which add a shit ton of stress.
Comfort – Lets be honest. Most 9-5 jobs are pretty comfy. You get up at 8am grab your coffee in to work by 8:30 to gossip for a bit. Grab your TPS reports and highlighter and start to go through them. You finish the first batch about 11:30 time to goto lunch with the gang. After a good social lunch you head back to the office to grab the rest of your TPS reports until 4:45 when you start to shut it down and head out. Home by 5:30. Pretty nice. When you own your own company your on 24/7 or atleast thats how it is with me. Server issues at 3am.. Im up and working on it or calling dillsmack if I cant figure it out quick. I miss the comfort of just having a easy 9-5 gig. But not that much =P
The Dip – Everyone loves the initial dreams of owning your own business but soon after the fun thoughts leave the real work begins. Powering through that dip is a mother. We go through it every time we start a new website. Being able to power through the dip until you reach a tipping point is probably the biggest reasons companies fail.
Motivation – Some people are just motivated more then others. When I first started my own company my main motivation for kicking ass was that I was terrified to go back to a corporate 9-5 job. That was 5 years ago. Now my motivation is more to keep kicking ass so my employees/partners never have to work for a corporate 9-5 job ever again.
There are others like … lazy and not working hard but I think they are more of a effect from the above.
I know a lot of you are close to starting your own business. I hear from you every day. What is holding you back?
FavBrowser
4. They use IMs which consumes all their time.
Ryan
What’s holding me back? The fear of not being able to provide food and a home to my wife & daughter. I believe if it were just me I’d have done it already. But knowing they rely on my & my income makes it hard to justify.
Elite Blogger
Can’t agree with you more shoe. Great post.
Chris Bartow
I’m much more comfortable owning my own business than I was working for someone else. No stress of a boss breathing down your back cause you decide to go off and do something or asking for permission to go to the doctor or something trivial.
I can also take a break and do house work. I can mow my lawn while it’s nice and cool this morning instead of cramming it in at night or on a weekend.
Of course the down side of this is if you are lazy, you could take a break and watch TV all day. 🙂 You may have a problem being successful.
Fredto
Yeah, motivation is my biggest issue. I can’t keep at it for more than a few days before I get fed up with the fact that it seems to go nowhere. The worst part is, I know I can do it, I just can’t get up my lazy ass and do something about it. I think I need help in overcoming that.
Andrew Mason
Totally agree, running your own business is not for everybody but I have done it for a few years now. It kind of makes you numb to financial problems, as you face them head on in the early years..
Chris
I’m stuck in the 9-5 rut, It takes a lot to be able to move over from the 9-5 to leaping into owning your own business.. takes some balls 😛
Regin
Living in Spain makes it a lot easier to start yourself, here it is 8-18 😛 , I ain’t going back to that!
FavBrowser
Come on, everyone knows that #1 reason for failure is a lack of time. All who got no time are using IMs, reading hundreds of blogs, surfing forums, playing games, downloading files, etc, etc
Bahamas Hosting
Shoe,
TPS reports — ha ha, does that every bring back memories of the 9-5 world !
– Richard
Start Blogging
Excellent points and I think you’re right. I guess that’s why there are so many bloggers trying to make money online from it and still working with their regular job.
MyEggNoodles
You forgot to mention the biggest reason people fail: Managing cash flow.
Sports Picks
I am being held back because I can’t afford to lose my salary, given that I have a family and house to pay 🙂
Geiger
Comfort is a big part of it. Most people with families need to pull in 20% more in straight profit to cover medical insurance and such. Plus if you factor in the uncertainty of it all, most would have to make double to cover up for the possibility of their business stopping.
MillionDollarJourney
You hit the nail on the head when you said that fear is one of the biggest reasons people don’t jump into business. Fear of uncertainty is the single most reason that people do not embrace change, even if it’s for the better.
corey
exhaustion. by the time i get home, eat something, talk to my lady for a bit, and sit down at my computer, i am either too tired to do the same shit i have done all day or just sick of sitting in front of a computer.
EverythingFinance
I’m in the boat where I have started my own business, but its not generating enough revenue for me to quit my day job just yet. But I’m working on it 🙂
As usual, great post!
Jagdeep
fear is holding me back and also my university study
why dont you just pay a server management team? they’ll handle your server issued 24/7
Shaun Carter
I owned my own restaurant for three years and ultimately had to close when economic conditions, both local and commodity based squeezed our margins until there was nothing left.
I’m not sure if I would ever start an offline business again because of the significant overhead. My online business ventures are very low overhead and virtually 100% profit.
Darlington Photographers
Excellent post. I was also ‘forced’ to quit work by my wife who said I could make more money on my own!!
bochgoch
For me it’s focus that keeps me off the web full-time … I bounce around between so many things and I can never really decide what the core of my web business should be.
Shoe – how do you decide which projects to pursue and which to dump?
Hustle Strategy
the odd thing about life is the whole responsibility and cost of living things. people have to make money to survive and just because you work doesn’t mean you are going to get paid. i think the four year plan was a good idea and having a wife that is a doctor probably didn’t hurt. the support definitely helps as well.
jim
Fear held me back for at least a year, fear that I wouldn’t be able to sustain things, wouldn’t be able to grow, and fear of not knowing what I was supposed to be fearful of. Then I buckled down and realized, hey… you can always go back to the 9-to-5 job if stuff doesn’t work out. I’m young, I can give this a shot or I can play “what if?” when I’m 50… i realized I was more scared of playing what if? in 30 years and took the plunge.
Vlad from FreshRevision
The biggest two reasons i think are:
-Giving up to early
– Not taking action
petnos
Yesterday i and one of my friend who is really interested in internet like me started our own business. Now we are not starting a company but we are partners to create new things which are going to about internet, technolgy and information.
I designed a web site for our partnership and and use our before individual works to show referance of ours. And today i designed a business card for both and now we have 2 customer:)
Hope we can do what we want. Both of us are university student and looking for nes partners to be more stronger.
But it seems really hard. We are not free like 2 days ago.
ShoeMoney
never met any that were very competent.
Forumistan
Maybe they hate working 🙂
Stephane Grenier
I couldn’t agree more with you on the dip or tipping point. An analogy I like to use for this is the gym membership. Most people join but very very few last past a few months. Getting past that initial hump is tough. But after some time it gets easier and easier and it just becomes a part of you.
Get Best Prices
Great post! I started working for my own 2 years ago and is very difficult, but I prefer this before to work for to a incompetent boss (like in my last work)
shy blogger
I think the scared to take risk make me can’t open the business yet..
Untill I have enough experienced and knowledge
Craig
The dip is the real problem around here, building the product has never been a problem. We always kept on schedule and managed to produce a great thing that we and our investors truely believe in. Problem is launching and getting it going, I am by myself now and have to do all the marketing, QA and maintenance myself. So the dip for me is like the uphill battle on Everest to the tipping point….
Mubin
Stress? Half of my head is already grey. Im only 24.
Anony T
I am the opposite. I never had a 9-5 job, ever since the mid/early 90’s I was on the INTERNET making money. In the early days of high school I was a massive porn spammer, my parents didn’t care it wasn’t illegal and 100’s a day. After the laws changes I went into legit site making w/adsense & fastclick when they were IT, and then affiliate marketing. I started out with adsense at an almost instant 300 a month, went up to 500, 1000, then started doing affiliate stuff because wow it was a lot more $ and targeted. I was able to jump income to 3-10k a month for a few years w/out any REAL input from me just SE ranking paying off. All the time, since 11th grade in HS I was doing minor work for a company and slowly went into full-time (programming, seo, onsite monetization techniques) for them. However, I work from home 85% of the time so it’s not a real 9-5. I do still make a couple k from affiliate marketing, and very little from adsense. At one point I had my own designer full-time, and a programmer part-time as I was using them for my own sites and even client sites (I was doing decent $ with clients too). SO, I went from 100% my own stuff and ideas to WORK and CLIENTS, after 2 or so years of that I have slowly gotten tired of dealing with “other people” as the boss and am again building up my sites. This time, however, I am building up long-term content sites that will make money over years w/out any input or minor design changes. Once I get a steady 5k+ again I will probably higher my designer full-time, and a programmer to do my own stuff as well as clients so I don’t have to deal with the clients but can bring in some more cash flow for the business. I am a quick learner, dropped out of college to run my sites/business, and taught myself everything. I also did a bit of importing from China in the late 90s early 2000.
JJDW
Good motivational post. With you laying them out like that I realize that I have overcome all of these and still haven’t started. I have mentally overcome all of those factors (for the most part) and still haven’t taken the plunge. My problem now is time; it’s hard to do much when you have full time school, work, family and a relationship. I’m starting to believe this is more of an excuse than anything, because if I don’t try and get something rolling I will never have the opportunity.
Shamrock
What is this 9-5 business? Every job I’ve had including my current one requires you work 8 hours. That makes it a 9-6 day minus your 1 hour lunch. No wonder you got fired all those times…you thought you were getting paid to eat!
Forumistan
I have no stress, I am 18
Peter Wolf
Woow, motivation is my biggest issue. Fear of uncertainty is the single most reason that people do not embrace change, even if it’s for the better.
jason
i have only worked in my own businesses for about 3 to 4 years. Im not sure I could fuction in a regular employment situation? but its 24/7
Griffin
i guess i’m lucky for how successful my business has been. Started when I was 18 and going strong almost 24. One of the best sayings I have hanging on my wall is:
PROCRASTINATION IS A FIVE-SYLLABLE WORD FOR FEAR
Helps me get off my ass and continue to move forward. //g
Michael Martine
The feedback I’ve been getting from people at Gateway Blogging is that people don’t where to even start or what steps to take. That’s one of the things we’re addressing in the Gateway Blogging online learning program.
Paul
I am one of these people and love to hear about your experiences in doing so! The dip as you put it is the toughest thing besides lack of funds. The business has also put a strain on my social life. You were lucky enough to find a wife that would support you. Trying to find the perfect one is tough when everything you have is all tied up. The one thing that has stuck in my head when I told my father that I was going for it was “You can sleep when you’re dead.” Thank you Shoe for you insperations and I look forward to hearing more!
Muscle Post
Too many bills to pay to quit the job and start out on my own from day one. It’s going to take some time and I’m not making excuses, I’m devising a plan. Can’t go head first into a business without passion, research and resources. I’ve got enough of the first one, a lot of the second one, but I’m still working on the third.
Sure there is some fear in there, you would be stupid to not have any fear. But you can’t let the fear hold you back.
Neil Rempke
I’m not at all convinced on the fear/time thing as being the *source* reason for lack of follow through. It really is all about ideas and creativity (ultimately, brain power). Knowing when and how to pursue the correct ideas (i.e. the ones that make $$$) is the key. I believe people don’t succeed at starting their own business because they have wasted time in the past on ideas that suck, have been done, have extremely limited potential, take lots of time or are hard (as in the amount of effort required) to monetize (i.e. blogging). Idea creation, selection and execution are the differentiating factors.
Neil Rempke
I’m not at all convinced on the fear/time thing as being the *source* reason for lack of follow through. It really is all about ideas and creativity (ultimately, brain power). Knowing when and how to pursue the correct ideas (i.e. the ones that make $$$) is the key. I believe people don’t succeed at starting their own business because they are wasting time/have wasted time in the past on ideas that suck, have been done, have extremely limited potential, take lots of time or are hard (as in the amount of effort required) to monetize (i.e. blogging). People good at idea creation, selection and execution are the differentiators.
Doug Nelson
20 years ago I did quit my job and start my own business. I liked my boss, and my business was going to technically compete with him, so I went to him and promised I wasn’t going to poach his business, relying solely on new business. He cracked up laughing and told me I could try to take all the old accounts from him I wanted. He said he knew I’d fail, because I didn’t have “the killer instinct”.
And you know what? He was right. I did fail, and for exactly the reason he said. I expected customers to join me because I was offering “better” and “innovative”, but all they wanted was “cheaper than they currently pay”. I refused to stoop to that, and lasted about 8 months before I had to join the traditional job market again.
Not John Chow
Yes fear is what stops you before you start but, motivation, organization, and investment is what kills a business after the launch.
Sports Picks
lol! no sh!t… 9-5 is a super comfy job…
Collin - Feed Flare
I think a lot of people look at an online business as something that is easy and should make them rich in no time and get frustrated when they don’t make anything, that is for sure the case with a lot of bloggers or so called bloggers……..nothing comes easy, or cheap and for sure not fast! Once you understand that, you have half the battle beat.
Zafar Ahmed
There is nothing which is holding me from starting my own business. I love challenges, I love to keep myself busy, infact, everyone does. However, I don’t advice people to jump like what I did.
I jumped and left everything, I left my day job, my other activities and went over started a business which was a big failure. I went back and got a job and now the strategy is different – I am working on the business until I am 101% confident that I don’t need the job anymore, The money I get from this job is spent on the business as an “investment’ so I am not in a big shit.
There is nothing better than owning your own business, I don’t agree with you that you have to be available 24/7, no you don’t. And you are not Jeremy, I know. You just need to develop the right team to take care of each work and divide the work. Your job is to look after them and look after new opportunities to make your business more successful.
Work hard is the key here. No, it’s not TRUE. Work smart
just my 2 cents 🙂
regards,
Zafar Ahmed
Zafar Ahmed
I totally agree with you on this. I have had people coming to me saying “dude you are lucky, you sit in a AC room and work”
🙂
Melvin
what holds me back is me being a college student.. it’s really hard to continue stuffs when you’re parents want you to study FIRST b4 any other..
Ru
Money!!!! Finance!!! but you are soooo dead on. I’m in the midst of launching now … I’m so exhausted.
Jagdeep
you wont make loads of money with no input unless you have a site where other people write the content, ie forums/blog networks
tyna
Your parents are right about you studing first,please listen to them.
Tom
Agreed… it’s hard to take the leap when you haven nothing to fall back on. Even having a second income in your household helps. It’s a bit harder to leap when you have nowhere to fall.
Feel Reality
I think a lot of people start a business not because they want to be a successful entrepreneur, but because they are looking for an escape from their day job. They often fail because they want to fail; it’s reinforcement that working for a living is what we were meant to do.
I’ve lost plenty of money on my own ideas, as you posted a few days ago, most of us fail way more than we succeed. I have given up on the quick buck ideas and am focusing more on building sustainable long term sites with user generated content. Those things take time and quitting your day job isn’t really an option without funding. Sure you can go for loans or VC, but I don’t think I have the background for that. So until then… it’s back to the daily grind.
Feel Reality
I think most people attempt to start their own business so that they can escape the 9-5. They aren’t seeking a successful business venture, they just want out of the monotony. You have to begin with the end in mind.
I have failed more times than I have succeeded and overall I would say I’m in the hole. If I didn’t have the 9-5, I would be broke. I am now seeking longer term ventures with solid planning. I’m not spinning my wheels while I over plan, I’m laying the groundwork. If I had funding, I would love to spend all day on my own projects… I just don’t think I have a way to secure that funding, other than saving up over time.
Feel Reality
I think most people attempt to start their own business so that they can escape the 9-5. They aren’t seeking a successful business venture, they just want out of the monotony. You have to begin with the end in mind.
I don’t think I have a way to secure the funding required to market and implement my ideas.
Nicole Price
I have to say that fear is the most important factor, that and the firm belief that everyone is not cut out to be an entrepreneur.
Felex Tan
I started my home based business 4 months ago,however due to financial problem and not earning much from the internet,i have been forced to come to work again.But ,i never give up my business and i am still running it and make it even bigger .Determination is very important in any business.
Paul
I agree with what Ryan said in the top of the comment thread… Fear of not being able to provide the food for wife and son. And I guess that I really should have kicked of my own full time business years ago (before I got married, bought a house and got kids and so on)… now it’s just a half time business and it’s stressing me as I don’t have all the time I would need for it. So a tip to every one out there: Just do it before you get too old, have family and mortgages – it’s always easier to get up on your feet when you aren’t bound to other important thing (like family and loans).
Paul B
I packed in my job 18 months ago with a wife and daughter to support and a mortgage to pay. I’ve never looked back, I work 16 hour days a lot of the time but it’s not so bad when you’re doing it for yourself. Money is the constant stresser, I set myself a monthly goal of what I need to live on and until I reach that I’m a real stress head. For the second half of the month I get to chill a bit. Family and friends are key to making it work, when I was first struggling to meet earnings targets it was my friends letting people know about my SEO services that paid the bills for the first couple of months. Takes a lot to walk away from a steady income, holiday pay and all that other stuff but if you’re good enough and work hard enough there is little to fear.
Paul B
That’s a bit of a sweeping statement? Formal education is not the right way for everybody.
Wes
I’ve been working hard for about 4 years while finishing college/part time work and now full time 9-5 work. I work hours before work and hours after work just to keep pushing it forward. (Usually ends up being a total of 50-70 hours a week.) I am closer than ever to saying good bye to the corporate life and I hope to bring some of my contractors on in the future as full time employees. I’ve gotten to the point where my sites will bring in over 10k profit this month for the first time and it is an amazing feeling.
I wish everyone luck in their endeavors and keep plugging away and power though that dip. I’ve been through several dips and you never know what is on the other side. When you are so stressed you want to quit, you might be onto something amazing right around the corner. I’ve seen it at least 3x. The stress is crazy for a month or two, then revenue jumps 3x in one month and things get easier!
Don’t quit your day job until you have a track record and your downward spikes in revenue are still enough to life on!!
Bryan
The primary reason I don’t stop working during the school year is because my clientèle never expands to the size I am looking for. I don’t make enough doing web design to be financially independent. If I could find a way to get more customers I might consider it.
Jon
Hi Jeremy,
I build up my business last year and alwayd asked myself why I didn’t try when I was 20 year-old. Because the bank didn’t give me the money to do it.
I hate working for people I can’t doint that anymore
to late
tom
ooops. sorry about the double post, you can delete this one :). It wasn’t showing that it was updating while I was submitting.
Winning Startups
I think the number one reason for those who do start is lack of funding, or a miscalculation on what it will cost. That, plus a lack of a business plan or forethought.
petnos
is there any strategy which can help people who want to start to do what they found. are we have to use common things or is there any formula to be successful.
Goran Website
Its not work, its play, and what you do when building your business is fun. When you take this approach its easier to achieve.
Goran Website
Very well said, this is the reason.
woundedbeer
I’ve found that most people that fail are either (1) pessimistic, (2) impatient, or (3) just lack business sense. Some people just don’t have it in them.
Johnny
My wife and I own a local womans newspaper (www.csswpaper.com) and I have a few websites that I manage. I have learned that it is not easy and it does not happen overnight.
But your post is pretty much right on the mark… ‘Tipping Point’ is a good phrase we hope to one day reach ours, more sooner than later…
Geiger
The idea of a server management team sounds like a great idea, until something goes wrong.
Geiger
Maybe this is why some teenagers that can’t find a job that fits can actually make some good cash online. $3-4-500 a month for a kid is a good chunk of change.
jatt
I’m one of the kids you were talking about hehe
jatt
I’m not rich..but happy..lalalala..hehe.Anyway Mr Shoe, nice advice hre..thanks
chen
you nailed it right on the head. excellent points.
Forex-man
I shink but there are men of unior/
Derek
I did things a little backwards. Despite earning six figures off of the internet as I was graduating college a few years ago, I took the plunge to get a corporate job recently. My business hasn’t failed, but my motivation to grow it dissipated.
The number one reason I think it dissipated was I didn’t know what I was working for. So, before you start a business, make sure you create yourself a short little mission statement so you can regularly refresh the reason why you work to begin with.
Web Marketeer
I hear what you’re saying, Ryan. The trick would be to start doing something part time and growing it until you reach a stage where you can let go of the day job and focus on your own business.
Web Marketeer
Cashflow is the biggest single challenge facing every prospective enterpreneur. The bills have to paid, no matter what, and if business is slow, or people are slow in paying (or heaven forbid, fail to pay at all) you’d better have a sympathetic bank manager!
Web Marketeer
After having been self-employed for many years I am working for a boss again. Success is hardly guaranteed when you’re working for yourself, and boy, do you ever work hard! Granted you can manage your time better, and have freedom to occasionally do what you like, when you like, but you still need a fair dollop of good fortune too.
The worst lesson I learned was that having a product to market and sell is one thing. Getting the business is the next thing. The lesson you don’t learn in college is the one of bad debt. One big deal gone wrong can kill five years worth of hard labour….such is life!
StickyPages
I too am stuck in the gutter in this one, I have worked on getting a semi-side-business up and running doing the things I do best and trying to set myself up… But it’s hard to make the same amount of money as you do during the day as you can do in a few hours in the evening to make sure that you have a smooth transition (if that is at all possible).
It’s great to see that I’m not the only one that is having a hard time, just don’t go falling into one of those websites that state, “Hate your job, make your first million! I’ll show you how”.
One book I read is titled, “Do what you love, the money will follow”… great book, I suggest it. As soon as my mortgage comes through, i’m hitting the pavement running!
Cheers!
PPC
If only it was that clear cut and simple!
PPC
On the other hand you’ll work late every evening and put in weekend time, esp with a web based business where regular business hours don’t necessarily apply.
PPC
Siesta time! Aribba aribba!
PPC
Try lack of cashflow buddy!
PPC
You are obviously not motivated enough…..
Sports Picks
lol, yeah factor in siesta and its really 6 hour day 😉
Princess Karin
The only thing holding me back is scheduling. I’m a phone sex operator and I like to make sure that no one is around when I do my job. I’m sure the neighbors wouldn’t understand all those noises coming from my office of Me telling men to get on their knees and lick my toes.
Adam
The biggest secret that people want to avoid is that, generally, success takes time. Our site, http://www.gamerzfix.com, supports our Second Life business. The site now makes a considerable amount of money, but it took 3-4 years to really grow it. It seems everyone wants to make Shoemoney money, but in 30-60 days. There are lots of great ideas out there to be developed, but just keep in mind that it takes perseverance to get there.
Oh, and if it’s a Web 2.0 site, please please please stay away from site URLs that have no vowels or cute spellings. I’m sure there are some great web apps out there that I will never find because of crazy URL spellings. That’s my opinion anyway.
Great article and great information for people wanting to make money online.
AZ
I am 19 and I just started my first blog. I would love to make money like you do here as a lot of people would. I dont care if I never make as much as you do but I would like enough to live without a 9 to 5 job…
What advice can you give me? I read a LOT of content and I come to big blogs like yours to see what is working. I also have used the waybackmachine to see how big sites have grown and the changes they have made. Come to my site and leave me a message on my blog if you ever read this and feel like taking your time to help a little guy. If not I will continue to work hard to get to my goal of earning a good amount of money online.
Eva White
Most people are too scared to step out of the comfort zone and try something new. This applies to leaving your steady job and taking a chance with a business as well. Afterall it is one thing to have the talent to succeed and another to have the guts.
Austin(Cowsgonemadd3)
But what if they are making leads? There are a lot of things that can waste your time on your computer.
Greenleaf
Hi, I agree with you. A lot of people would rather stay in the comfort zone or some call it the feeling of security. That is why a lot of people rather stay in their current job than trying something new. 🙂
Zak Show
good post. people have to focus more and work hard in order to succed