Happy Birthday To Abigail's Concierge! One Year Milestone

Happy Birthday To Abigail's Concierge! One Year Milestone

Blog by Abigail Lovell

First posted on 8/16/2013 on Blogger

Here we are in the middle of August and it just recently dawned on me that Abigail's

has flown by so quickly. Even more unbelievable that we've hit what I feel is a huge milestone as a fledgling business. Yes, we all know that it's the 5th year in business that you can somewhat breathe a sigh of relief that you're in the safe zone, statistically speaking.

As Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Marketing and PR Director, Facilities, Web Master and Administrative Assistant it's important to me, and to any business really, to take the time to feel the pulse of the business. A state of the union review, if you will. And because the success or failure of any small business hinges on customers it's important to understand if what you're currently doing is meeting the needs of your market, to explore new offerings or ways of doing business, and to let go of those past decisions or ideas that aren't serving your business or your customers anymore. Like a child a business is an organic, living entity. It needs constant care, feeding, discipline and the best guidance and education that as a parent/owner you can afford.

With that in mind I went online and to see how Abigail's, at the critical one year mark compares to small businesses across America. The goal to raise a business that thrives and grows is admirable but it takes awareness to avoid the pitfalls that bring good business ideas down. Knowledge is power as they say.

So this is what I uncovered.

85% of all new businesses fail in the first year.  If you make it to 5 years you can expect a 50% chance of survival. It's only in your 10th year that you're looking at a 65% success rate. That still seems scary.

So, what makes small businesses sink or swim? And why we have a vested interest in supporting small businesses so that they make it through those crucial first years.

Interestingly there are two main indicators for failure. And these two reasons factored into any number of other sited reasons for failure.

1. Lack of Experience

Lack of experience fed into other negative impacts such as choice of a poor location, inability win against the competition, poor inventory management and low sales.

2. Insufficient Capital

You walk a fine line when determining the finances needed to fund a new business. One miscalculation can mean the difference between surviving or closing your doors. Factors like poor credit arrangements, unexpected growth or over investment in business assets can drain your funds before your business can actually start bringing in a healthy revenue stream.

I pride myself on my skill as a sales person and marketer. I'm damn good and I'm not afraid to say so. I spent 9 years in outside sales. Business to business sales to boot. And from that experience I learned from the outside looking in what new small businesses failed to see. Every single entrepreneur that I worked with had amazing talents in one form or another. They were visionaries, dreamers and risk takers, all admirable qualities. But the ones that failed consistently felt that they had to be in control of every piece of their business, every time, all the time. Even when they were so obviously ill equipped or inexperienced in critical parts of the business. So even though I'm a sharp marketer I struggle with bookkeeping so I have someone who is my Quick Books pro and book keeper, I have a General Contractors license but I lean heavily on my subcontractors who have been in the industry for decades and know how to handle projects in the 10's of thousands and my business partner has owned multiple businesses over three decades now so I don't make any important business decisions without consulting him. Point is, I seek the expertise of others to drive the business to excellence and keep it on track.

Before launching the business I read books and researched everything I could learn about my business of choice, spoke to as many business owners and experts as possible, I sought mentors and sounding boards and continually strove to stay open minded as I navigated my way through the first year.

I also had the invaluable assistance, guidance and limitless resources provided, free of charge, to any individual who's ever pondered opening a business, through my local SBA office. They offer mentoring, courses on how to write a business plan, one on one counseling, help with loan applications. The resources are outstanding and did I say, free?

All of which leads me to the 2nd reason businesses fail, insufficient capital. And why these amazing SBA offices can make or break a new business. We've all heard the cliché. If You Fail To Plan, You Plan To Fail. So very true. These offices are funded by the government for the sole reason of making sure that every business that's willing will get the support needed to succeed. And creating a business plan is at the top of that list. Because those entrepreneurs who spent the time and energy creating a business plan were twice as likely to grow their business or secure capital. Either through investors or through a bank. 36% more likely as a matter of fact.

Yes, statistics are scary, frightening really. But once you know the facts you can plan for success.

And as civilians it's imperative for the good of your community, city and country to continue to patronize small businesses who employ 50% of all private sector employees, generate 64% of all new jobs in a 15 year period, pay 44% of all US private payroll, produce 30% of known export value, produce 13 times more patents per employee than large patent firms. And doesn't it just feel good to support small businesses who are after all your neighbors, friends?

So after blowing out the one candle on the cake, popping the champagne and doing a celebratory jig it is time to roll up my sleeves and get back to the job of growing the business.

Statistics courtesy of:

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/01/small-business-successfailure-rates/

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