It’s no secret that startup businesses often fail within the first year or two and it’s also no secret that many of them failed because of inadequate planning, lack of sustaining capital, poor location, bad management and a hostile community environment that put out no welcoming mats. How can the risk of failure be made less? Adequate planning SBA (Small Business Administration) has this area covered from that first thought about starting your own business to actually managing it. Therefore, when the urge to get out on your own and be your own boss is overwhelming there’s nothing else to do but do some serious thinking about your preparedness for this risky new endeavor. They will help you make the first decision, should I or should I not quit my lucrative job and strike out on my own? If you are financially able, go for it. That means if you can live for a couple of years on your savings in addition to having enough cash flow to carry the business over until it becomes profitable, why torture yourself further, go to the next step. In SBA lingo, the next step is asking and answering truthfully a series of twenty questions. The first four you’ ll skip over nicely but five is: What is my target market? In other words who will I be selling to, and is this needed in the community I have chosen. If the answer to the second half of that question is negative, then you’ll need to look elsewhere. Of course if you’re determined to stick with your community you’ll have to change the minds of lots of people. Reason with the local residents. Prepare your presentation well, possibly in a series of talks to small groups, community leaders and to wizened and understanding business persons who can be trusted to be helpful without being competitive. Make your argument fit their as yet unknown need for whatever it is you’re supposing your potential customers will buy. As an example: You’ve decided to start a new middle scaled children’s clothing factory/outlet where you’ll be selling direct, taking orders for upscale items on demand, and shipping to other established stores once they’ve heard of you and learned of your fine items. (You must project your dream beyond mere opening the business to a point of time in the future when your business has matured to the point you’re thinking of retiring.) In this fifth question SBA throws at you you’ll have to think through carefully how to Category:Home › Other • Pomegranates: A newly discovered superfood • Where did the joke why did the chicken cross the road come from and why is it funny? • Can mothers diagnosed with bipolar disorder make good parents? • Spiritual evolution of human consciousness • Tips for getting a college basketball scholarship • Living with Pseudotumor cerebri (PTC) • Caring for the caregiver • Technologys impact on society