What do all successful business owners have in common? They know their strengths and their weaknesses. That seems intuitive, right? Do you know how many businesses that start today will FAIL within 3 -5 years?
Gallup says that 40% will close within three years! And 50% of the rest won’t make it past five years. The Small Business Administration (SBA) has always used the figure 80%… won’t make it past 5 years.
Why? The reasons you and I have always heard are; lack of capital and lack of knowledge (experience). I believe that Gallup cracked the code on this question with the introduction of EP10 (Entrepreneurial Profile 10).
Gallup has studied strengths and strengths based development for over 70 years. They have worked with, interviewed, studied and coached 10’s of thousands of individuals, teams, managers, leaders and entrepreneurs. The result of their study is, EP10.
My 30+ years of business experience tells me that Gallup hit the nail on the head with EP10 and the prescribed methodology of Discovering, Developing and Directing these talents or strengths.
Over the next several weeks I am going to unpack what I have come to believe is the best answer as to why some business fail and why some rise to meteoric heights. I will unpack the 10 talents that every business owner MUST either possess, or account for, in his or her business.
Here’s the entire list of Gallup’s Entrepreneurial Talents for you to review:
Businesses Fail… Why?
As I mentioned above, EVERY business owner/entrepreneur MUST either possess or account for each of these talents to grow and maintain a successful business.
The SBA says lack of capital and lack of knowledge. True… perhaps. But what’s behind that? Behind successes and failures are these TEN talents or a lack of them in many instances.
All business owners have “blind-spots”. Like it or not, no one has a clear 360 degree vision 7x24x365. These blind-spots are holes in your entrepreneurial boat. They are creating problems for you and your business; they’re holding you back. There’s a solution…
Stay tuned for a deeper dive into these TEN Entrepreneurial Talents. I believe you’ll be glad you did!