A few years ago, I was watching an online Twitter event when a very famous motivational speaker took the stage and declared, "Eighty percent of all business fail in the first five years!" In case we weren't frightened enough by that, he repeated it. I believe I yelled back at him on my computer with a word I won't repeat.
These failure statistics aren't just inaccurate, they're frequently pulled out to sell high-priced "solutions." I was pretty sure he was going to offer to save us from such a miserable fate for several thousand dollars. Of course, my expectations were met a few minutes later.
Anyone who has asked the Failure Rate Question of me, knows that it's an invitation to a rant. Ii like to point out that if such massive failure was occurring that every office park in the country would look like a U-Haul parking lot.
Then I point out a number of other problems with the popular statistics such as the fact that they're based on conventional, highly capitalized businesses. They also are skewed because if you sell a business that continues under new ownership it also may be classified as failed.
Nevertheless, anyone who is serious about succeeding on their own needs more than a good idea. How can you put the odds of success in your favor?
According to the National Business Incubation Association, 80-90 percent of businesses are still operating after five years where the founder has received some entrepreneurial training and continues with a networking group.
So while we may think that the Joyfully Jobless are wildly independent, the truth is that we're actually wildly interdependent. We continue to learn, grow, connect. Over and over and over.
Whether you're just starting out or have been self-employed for decades, keep putting yourself in places with others who are building their dreams, too. And get ideas and information from a reliable source-not a snake oil salesman.
Here are two places where you can connect and up the odds of bringing more of your dreams to life. Connect with both and you could be downright dangerous.
Winning Ways newsletter has been an important part of my life for 28 years so I am guilty of forgetting to mention what a unique tool it can be. Then I get a message like this one from Natalie Edwards in the UK. She says,
