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I have been running a successful media production and communications consulting company for over thirty years. This implies that I have beaten all odds. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “About 20% of new businesses fail within the first two years, 45% within the first five years, and 65% within the first 10 years. Only 25% of new businesses survive 15 years or more.”
Interestingly, these percentages have not modified that much since the mid-Nineteen Nineties. (*37*)Beating the odds and staying strong is not a matter of luck. Meeting customer needs, being financially responsible, and growing at a manageable pace while delivering high-quality products or services requires continuous effort.
There are many reasons for business failure: lack of financing, poor location or ineffective marketing. The list goes on. I say all of it comes all the way down to one thing, or should I say one person(*37*).
Companies fail because of entrepreneurs. The same one who began a company can put an end to a profitable enterprise. I know. What I do today is different from what I did in the early years. I deliberately “reworked” my work every five to seven years. Here are some things I’ve learned about how to remain relevant for many years.
Don’t develop into complacent
It’s easy to develop into complacent and do the same thing over and yet again. Some entrepreneurs get comfortable and lose the spirit that made them successful in the first place. They move from courage to easy company management.
All it is advisable do is look at firms like Blockbuster, Kodak, Borders and many others. When you do not innovate, others pass you by. If you do not take risks, you miss opportunities. It’s easy to imagine that your product or service will stand the test of time. But not everyone is an LL Bean, John Deer or Coke. These are brands that have over 100 years of history. They have strength, but they are not complacent. They proceed to innovate. Entrepreneurs must monitor their activities and adapt them consistently.
Stay hungry
You find it irresistible when you may finally breathe easy because you have regular, loyal customers. However, it is a mistake to assume that your customers will at all times want or need what you do. For about thirty years, my company cooperated with a large furniture manufacturer. We were there every month, creating worker communication, a video overview of the business, which became the preferred approach to sharing information.
Until it wasn’t. The company decided to maneuver the video production in-house and didn’t notify us about it. At some point in our company’s history, it might have been devastating to lose this customer. They accounted for over 60% of our sales. However, my business advisors warned me to diversify and acquire recent clients. We did. When we discovered they might do it themselves, they accounted for lower than 5% of our sales. Being overly dependent on a few large customers is dangerous.
I take stock of my client portfolio every 12 months, so I never worry about whether a client will determine to go away. Sure, it hurts, but it won’t put the company out of business. I also spend time observing industry trends. When one industry faces challenges, others do well. Be curious. Stay hungry.
Get out of the way
One of the things I loved doing in the early days was visiting client sites. I loved interacting, getting the job done and seeing the results. It’s rewarding when a client wants you at work. Entrepreneurs, nonetheless, can easily fall into the trap of considering that they’ll do it higher than anyone else and that they need to be involved in every decision.
In the starting, I had a business partner. He was that style of individual. One of the key things that led to the breakup of the company was his need to regulate every thing. We hired qualified people, but they didn’t actually make the decisions.
As a result, we sometimes couldn’t act fast enough. One day I walked into the office and there have been the items we ordered lying there. When I asked why they weren’t sent away, the office manager replied that she was waiting for my partner to inform her where to go. It was a wake-up call. Shortly thereafter, we began to dissolve the partnership.
One thing I’ve learned is that building a talented team is not enough. If you desire to grow, you have to get out of their way. Today I set expectations and talked about the results we’d like to realize. My team may not do the job I do, and that is okay so long as we get results.
Getting off target might be humiliating for an entrepreneur. It’s also freeing because you may do more interesting work.
Embrace change
If you may sustain your business for a while, a change will probably be obligatory. I went through the Gulf War recession, the dotcom recession, the Great Recession that began in late 2007 and lasted until 2009, Covid, and the Great Recession.
It’s never easy, but when others throw in the towel or stand still, I look for ways to alter and help our clients. Everything is on the table. Nothing is beneficial. When things are at their worst, doing nothing is not an option. In my opinion, doing what everyone else is doing will not be the best plan of action. In other words, while some people go up… you could need to zag.
As I approach my forty years in business, I hope to proceed to grow, change and overcome adversity.