by: Vishal P. Rao
Let's face it, business opportunities are a rather quick, easy way to start a business. They are usually "turnkey" operations, where someone that buys into a program either online or offline is provided with all the necessary elements of immediately being in business for themselves. Business opportunity programs can also be cost effective, as many abound, and finding one within a restricted budget is rather easy.
The biggest challenges faced when choosing a business opportunity program are the following:
The sad facts are that because of the easy start up, and the rather quick "fix" that business opportunities present to potential entrepreneurs, business opportunity members can quickly enter a business and just as quickly leave it. Turnover can be quite a problem. Since little initial investment is required, many members "jump into" a business opportunity at whim, and quickly find that running a business is a whole heck of a lot of work!
The reason for the failure rate is also attributable to certain outlooks and requirements that many business opportunity "joiners" fail to consider when joining:
The real statistics on failures of small businesses, many of which now are business opportunities and franchises, are well documented by the United States Small Business Administration: www.sbaonline.sba.gov/. Business statistics provided by the United States Department of Labor, report that in 1994, the number of businesses that failed that year were divided into the following categories:
The Small Business Administration attributes these failures and the evolving higher percentages to the fact that there are now MORE small businesses in the United States overall, with a 49% increase in numbers since 1982.
The Small Business Administration also states specifically that statistically, only one in seven can be considered a true "failure", leaving unpaid obligations in their wakes. Others simply sell or shut their doors for a variety of other reasons.
Since most business opportunities, at least initially, open with less than 100 employees (many are simply the owner, as sole owner and executor of all business "chores"), then most Biz Ops are indeed "small businesses" and as such all the pertinent failure statistics can be applied to them. What is really surprising and rather "staggering" is the fact that most business failures are not due to outside forces, but those that the business owner has complete control over! These issues included lack of marketing know-how, lack of record keeping, lack of management competence, lack of financial management, and other business basics such as controlling employees and the inability to seek outside assistance and advice!
The wise business owner, whether or not involved in a business opportunity, will seek to learn and implement proper procedures, and investigate proper methods of operation throughout the life of a business.
If this is done, a Biz Op owner, or any small business owner, has less of a chance of becoming the "latest failure statistic"!
© Vishal P. Rao. All rights reserved.