November 9, 2020
Entrepreneurial Timing
Entrepreneurial Timing
As the year comes to a close, there are many wondering, “Is this the best time to start a business?”
As a real estate business owner, I have learned valuable lessons about business. Lessons that could only be taught from experience and would not have been accessible if I didn’t utilize Faith. Faith, is why I entitled my businesses Faith Filled Investments and Faith Filled Real Estate.
Yes, it is over the character count for the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) recommendation according to SEO experts, but I did not start a business to compete for top rankings on Google’s Search Engine. SEO can be important, and, in some cases, it should be at the top of one’s list for things to do to scale their business, depending on each business's goals of course.
"Faith is the key to building anything we want to last, especially a business, as challenging times are sure to come."
Check out the Information below to get a better understanding of the Success Rate for Entrepreneurs.
According to data from the Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs, there were 5.6 million employer firms in the United States in 2016.
- Firms with fewer than 500 workers accounted for 99.7 percent of those businesses.
- Firms with fewer than 100 workers accounted for 98.2 percent.
- Firms with fewer than 20 workers made up 89.0 percent.
- Add in the number of non-employer businesses – there were 24.8 million in 2016 (latest data) –
- then the share of U.S. businesses with less than 20 workers increases to 98.0 percent.
Survival Rate for Small Businesses
According to the SBA’s Office of Advocacy:
“About half of all establishments survive five years or longer… About one-third of establishments survive 10 years or longer.”
The survival rate for new businesses in their first year has improved recently (prior to COVID-19). According to the SBA Office of Advocacy, 79.9% of establishments started in 2014 survived until 2015, the highest share since 2005. 2016-2019 only grew the statistics positively .
See the Office of Advocacy’s “Frequently Asked Questions” publication here.
After reading books and articles on hundreds of Successful Entrepreneurs, they all had one major ingredient for the massive success of their business, their Why. The Why, is the top reason most, if not all entrepreneurs go into business for themselves, which is quite the opposite of how it is portrayed to those on the outside looking in. For many, failure was not an option. A key factor when starting a business should solely focus on how we will generate revenue for the services we will provide. Serving others is not an easy tasks, but it is the Key to any successful business withstanding the tests of time.
Entrepreneur or not, life can be simple and hard simultaneously. That statement is based on one factor… Taking Action. It is easy to say we are going to do something, even easy for some to think they will, but being a Doer is more than often pushed aside, causing countless dreams to dwell in the endless pit of wasted potential.
Taking Action
The biggest cause for missed opportunities comes from not taking action (procrastination). We either do or we do not, and the fact is, it is hard if not impossible to make things happen by not doing anything. Statistics on failed businesses are often shocking to beginners. The top reason more than 50% of businesses fail and end within the first five years are due to the lack of persistence. Most stop before trying everything there is to try to succeed. There is a saying, that quitters never win, and winners never quit.
The number for those who have started a business and stopped pursuing it before succeeding, is probably equivalent to those who have never started a business with great potentials of succeeding. We may never know due to the number one cause of wasted dreams, failure to take action.
Before re-asking the question: Is this a good time to start a business? Ask yourself, “How far have you gotten with anything that you have not started?” We are living in a world that forces our minds to gravitate towards being competitive. Often time, the competitive spirit takes over in a profit-driven society and causes the customer service experience to depreciate. This is not implying profits are not important because a business does not grow without it, but to emphasize the, “My Business is Better Than Your Business Mentality”. Most customers are not caring how much your business earn or is worth, the primary care is, “How much can your business benefit me as a customer?” Caring for the customer’s needs and wants has proven to be the best way to receive and keep satisfied customers; the business should grow and prosper, regardless of market timing.
"Most things that grow, often appear dormant to the eyes when change is not notice, but behind the scene actions are always taking place."
The Bulk of Job Creations Comes from Small Businesses.
“Small businesses accounted for 61.8% of net new jobs from the first quarter of 1993 until the third quarter of 2016.” (See the Office of Advocacy’s “Frequently Asked Questions” publication.)
In addition, in it’s 2018 Small Business Profile of the United States, the SBA’s Office of Advocacy reported:
- Small businesses created 1.9 million net jobs in 2015.
- Firms employing fewer than 20 employees experienced the largest gains, adding 1.1 million net jobs.
- The smallest gains were in firms employing 100 to 499 employees, which added 387,874 net jobs.
Women-Owned Firms
Women’s Business Ownership: Data from the 2012 Survey of Business Owners.
• Year 2012, women were majority owners of 9.9 million businesses which generated $1.4 trillion in sales and employed over 8.4 million individuals.
• In addition, another 2.5 million businesses were equally-owned by women and men, and they accounted for another $1.1 trillion in sales and 6.5 million jobs.
• As majority and joint business owners, women entrepreneurs generated $453 billion in payroll for 14.9 million workers through over 12.3 million businesses.
