 According to Bloomberg, 8 out of 10 entrepreneurs who start businesses fill within the first 18 months, an outrageous 80% fill. Why is that so? There are several reasons why people fill in business. However, I will share with you 10 reasons why people fill in business in this video. 1. Fear of creating a compelling sales funnel. One of the primary focus of every business owner, ought to be building an effective sales funnel. The sales funnel, generally described as a process a customer goes through on the way to purchase, especially if your brand is new to the market. Making sales in straight-call traffic is almost impossible. People want to be sure, if possible, to know your motivation before the patronize you. So what a sales funnel does is bridge the gap between you and potential customers by helping you create a relationship with a customer. According to entrepreneur.com contributor RL Adam, the sales funnel is likely like a soft sell, veiled in real value added pros. Through a sales funnel, your customers can relate your business journey while getting informed about your product and services. No matter how excellent your product or service is, if your sales funnel is not captivating and exciting, you are more likely to lose your potential customers. In no time, your business will come crashing. 2. Lack of long-lasting value. The world's most successful business owners can provide value for an extended time. Most business owners are so excited to make their first sales that they ignore certain important factors, value inclusive. For instance, in a quest to outdo your competitors, you may decide to reduce the cost of your goals. That can be a good strategy. After a while, you'll discover that you have been running at a loss and then decide that rather than increase the amount of the product, you reduce its value. Actions such as this can have a drastic effect on your business growth. It does not matter if it costs thousands of dollars or a few hundred dollars. Customers like to enjoy the full worth of every purchase. So, when a company begins to underdeliver, it fails to succeed. 3. Zero financial accountability. For a business to flourish, there is a need for the owner to track where the money that comes in goes. As a business owner, you have to keep daily records of your sales and be accountable for any financial decisions made. While some businesses fall because the owners are quick to spend most of the profits extra vaguely, many fail because they do not keep proper accounts. Even though you plan to get new business equipment or undergo maintenance, be sure first to know the business's financial state. When the expense is made to sustain an establishment goes out of control or the owner uses the company money for personal expenses, business failure is inevitable. 4. Lack of adaptability. Do you still depend on the tools and methods of many decades ago to handle your business? If there is a change in the desire of consumers or the situation of your industry, will your company still stand? Over the years, virtually every industry has been experiencing a massive, speedy, as well as devastating change. Any company that is unable to catch up with this evolution is bound to fall. A practical example is the events that have occurred since the outburst of the novel COVID-19 pandemic. Following the lockdown, many businesses have crumbled due to the inability to adapt to the times. However, many companies were able to manage the change and are experiencing fast growth, even amid the pandemic. An ancient Chinese proverb says, a wise man adapts himself to circumstances as water shapes itself to the vessel that it contains. 5. Lack of transparency. Many business owners do not give much thought to the issue of transparency. They are quick to copy the patterns of other companies in their industry, without putting their consumers' needs into consideration. When your customers doubt your authenticity and genuine care for them, they start to lose their trust in you and your products or certainty. They are quick to copy the patterns of other customers. Many business owners overlook the need for transparency between themselves and their workers. As a matter of fact, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer, 82% of employees don't trust their boss. When employees do not trust their bosses, a sense of insecurity is created within the working environment, which may deter the establishment's growth. The bit of truth is that businesses that lack transparency is bound to fall, if not immediately, later. But in the words of Kirsten Gillibrand, American lawyer and politician, when you open the door towards openness and transparency, a lot of people will follow you through. 6. Not targeting the right market. No matter how good your product or service is, it is not for everybody. Many business owners are often scared of narrowing down their service. They make it vague and broad, with the thought that they will get more customers. On the contrary, not having a specific market target can cost your business to fall because you will not be able to organize your time energy and resources accurately. On the other side of a company with an overboard market audience are those whose target is too narrow. Going too thin with your target market amounts to shallow prospect and an overwhelming high cost of lead acquisition. Another grievous mistake that business owners do is focusing on the wrong locality. How possible is it for a spa to flourish in a rural environment or for a gym to grow in an environment occupied by mostly aged people? 7. Lack of concrete business strategies. A research carried out by a small business administration showed that only half of the new businesses survived for the first five years and only one-third of new businesses can survive for 10 years and that about 65% of new businesses do not make it to 10 years. One of the primary reasons for this failure as observed by researchers is that business owners often build their company with business models and strategies that are not sound. Many founders believe that having a business idea means being able to map out a plan and implementation strategies. So they take up these responsibilities by themselves instead of hiring the services of professionals according to Mike Camo. The VP of Marketing app, Stride app, the business idea may be good, but failure may come in the implementation of the idea if there are no strategic guidelines in place. Your success in business is highly dependent on your willingness to invest time, money and resources in building a formidable business model with best practices. 8. Lack of effective leadership. American businessman, Sam Walton, once said that outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish. This functional leadership in your business has a tendency of bringing it down, no matter the height that it has gotten to before. Leaders are not just born. They are made through experiences. While a leader seeks to stir up the desire for employees to put in their best attest, bosses force their subordinates to get work done. Why do you think that certain great men, even after they have passed on, their businesses are still fully functional? This men were more than bosses. They were great leaders who were able to groom and mentor other people who would take the baton of leadership from them, even after their transition. If you want to stay long in business, you must transform your mindset from that of a control freak boss to a discerning leader. 9. Hasty overexpansion. Many a time, business owners confuse success with how fast they can expand their business. Instead of determining your success by the number of branches your business has established, let your new establishments be based on success. Lots of firms have fallen into bankruptcy because of their quest to expand faster than they should. When it comes to business expansion, especially creating a branch in a new locality, there are certain factors that every founder ought to consider. As questions such as, is there anyone I have trained well enough to be able to handle the business when I am away? Since, of course, you cannot be in two places, is there a huge competition in the locality I am looking towards? Or am I the first to offer such product or service? Except you want your business to crumble totally. You should only offer an expansion when necessary. 10. Giving up too early. Some people venture into business with a mindset that after investing a considerable amount of money as capital and using the best strategy, they will begin to make profits of thousands of millions in a short period. Starting up a business is like planting a seed. No matter how well you nurture it, you still have to wait. But then, some business individuals tend to cut down their growing seed because they were not patient enough to let it germinate and yield fruits. This outburst happens when a founder's reason for the startup is based on profit alone, rather than giving out value. If you must grow your business, then you must increase your patience level. Else, you will end up giving up on your idea. People may assume that businesses go out of the market because they like cash. Well, something caused them to lose their money, right? The little cracks in the foundation, not exactly excess spending, causes a mighty establishment to collapse.