The reasons why most business failures occur can be summarised by the following nine contributing factors. Knowing these factors will allow you to do some evaluation to see if any of these apply to your business. In return, you will have the opportunity to take action and change the course of your business before it is too late and any lasting damage occurs.

Check the following to see if any of the following apply to your situation:

Lost

Have you simply lost direction, lost sight of your goals, or lost the motivation to commit to getting the job done?

Technophobia

Are you afraid to move with the times and up-skill? Alternatively, do you take the long way to do something and not use the technology that is available to you?

Attention Deficit Disorder

Do you find yourself easily distracted and not accomplishing tasks on time or within budget?

No Plan

Studies have shown that really without a written plan, there is effectively no plan. Plans should cover personal, business and entrepreneurship areas. In particular, the business and entrepreneur plans should be broken down into daily tasks, weekly goals and monthly and annual achievements. How detailed are your plans?

No System

If you have no system going, to facilitate your goals and objectives, you will struggle to get there. How exactly are you going to reach your targets?

No Mentor

We all need someone to aspire to who has a proven success record in a field of relevance. We must strive to model our actions and behaviours on what they successfully do. You do not have to pay someone to do this if you so wish. Just find someone you respect and would like to model. Mimic what they do and take action.

No Focus

It will be very difficult to keep focused without written plans, a system that works, and a mentor you aspire to model.

Get Distracted By Hype

Do you find yourself distracted by hype and not focus on your goals and the daily, weekly, and longer-term targets you set yourself? If this occurs, review your written plans and see if this hype will bring you closer or farther from your goals. The chances are that it will be of little benefit.

Afraid to Succeed?

Being afraid to succeed really occurs on a deep level within your subconscious mind. It can be associated with a fear of the unknown; fear of the changes success will bring to you, and the steps you need to take to become successful. It can be quite complex and requires a great deal of self-evaluation to assess if this is the reason behind business failure.

Have a close look at the above and see what areas you can improve upon.