Anybody else notice this?

[big time operator]

It's not really something new or insightful, but I've noticed something whenever I read forums such as this. When reading past threads I always come across people who had big dreams of success. They post a new website or ebay store... and when I click to check it out, it's no longer there. And these could be threads only six months old.

Did their business fail to make any profit and went under? Did their business show promise but quickly became too cumbersome for one person to run? Did they lose steam and lost the motivation to keep the business going from the get-go? Did they find something else more profitable? Did their business quickly take off and make them truckloads of money so they stopped working and are now living in the Cayman Islands?

It's a commonly stated statistic that most businesses fail (although an article in Entrepreneur this month states that this is an old and incorrect statistic). But it's a sobering reminder to me of the average life expectancy of business startups.

But I won't let this deter me from achieving my financial dreams. As Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com said, "I knew that if I failed I wouldn't regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is never trying."

[cocaine]

yeh , i believe people give up, it takes a while to earn some serious money though ecommerce websites (for them to become established) more than 6months, through the lack of money comming in they lost motivation (maslows theory X)
And not many people will earn enough in 6months to retire off.

[DJ Samson]

I don't know the exact numbers, but over 80% of small businesses fail after two years. After surviving those two years, 80% fail two years after that. E-commerce is no exception.

It's difficult because if you're idea is unique, it will be risky. If you're idea is conventional, it will be risky. I think there's a middle area where there lies markets that are untapped and can be reached through the discovery of your niche.

[akula]

entrepreneurship is a form of sadomasochism

after a number of failed starts, founders know that they're gonna fail in their next attempt but they still go through the pain because it makes them feel alive

[Bestmiler]

I think you see most of these threads with broken links because people never really start. They are afraid to waste money, time, or effort. I was like this in the beginning but you just got to go out there and do it. The rest will take care of itself. The hardest part is starting the race.

[sopranos fan]

I belive it was Malcolm X who said
"He who fails to plan , plans to fail "

[harrymcwealth]

People are f*ck*ng lazy that's what. They call themselves entrepreneurs when they duke it out in the market for a couple of weeks; and when it doesn't turn out they leave because they didn't make a million bucks with an eBay shop.

[SendBlast]

Miler, lets sticky this thread

something everyone on this forum should read

[Newton]

My website is doing ok and it's not even up yet.

[zoobie]

Probably it's because they lose the drive to keep going with their dreams.

I think both the moderators and members of this forum should in a way try to support one another.

We are a community, we should try to help out each other.

Every little things that we do or say to each other really makes a difference.

[collider]

Many people also underestimate the amount of work and time it takes to be truly successful. It can easily take years of hard work for something to be profitable, and if you are only doing it for the money, that's a hard thing to handle. You really need to find something that you love and is profitable, it's the only true key to success.

[Cat Ryan]

Hi everyone, the hard bit is staying focussed I think. Not just in keeping at it but also in doing things in a clever way so that the time you spend is actually productive for your new business. Otherwise it is hard to keep going and keep the momentum, especially as you are unlikely to see any immediate success. I live in the UK and there is an absolutely brilliant book on sale over here called How to be an Entrepreneur and it is by Steve Parks. I am sure you guys could get it via Amazon in the US anyway, otherwise it is on the .co.uk version of Amazon, but I suppose that would take ages in the post
Anyway it has lots on keeping the focus and making sure you don't spead yourself too thinly but keep at it with the important stuff, and gives lots of practical advice on how you can do what successful entrepreneurs do to get your new business into shape quicker.
Steve also does podcasts called Flying Startups which feature young and/or new entrepreneurs and chats about how they started and develop their business. I get mine direct from his website www.flyingstartups.com but it is on iTunes as well. It is quite rare to hear fellow entrepreneurs that are at these very early stages or starting a business. Normally there are just the already successful ones or those that have won awards that you hear from and that is not something that I anyway can relate to very easily. (Aspire to yes, but that is a different thing )
I started my own business a little while back and I know very well that I would have been much more successful from the start if I had just put in the right kind of work. I was very much guilty of having that stop-start attitude of great enthusiasm followed by manic activity followed by no activity..... I kept getting lots of ideas and didn't really follow any of them through properly. The problem is once you get to that stage you get disheartened, and I don't think everyone manages to pick themselves up from that.
Anyway good luck to everyone who reads this thread - it is possible to pull yourself back on track
Catherine

[nordicnomad]

I don't know the exact numbers, but over 80% of small businesses fail after two years. After surviving those two years, 80% fail two years after that. E-commerce is no exception.

It's difficult because if you're idea is unique, it will be risky. If you're idea is conventional, it will be risky. I think there's a middle area where there lies markets that are untapped and can be reached through the discovery of your niche.

An interesting addendum to that statistic that I learned was that those failure rates are for first time businesses... Meaning inexperienced entreprenuers. And I think that it's something more on the order of 90% fail in 5 years and another 90% failed 5 years after that.

But from what I've gathered 80% of businesses started by experienced entreprenuers succeed.

Isn't that something? That's the reason that I've decided to apprentice with a franchise owner near my house for minimum wage. I'm helping her with marketing and sales. Since the two most commonly quoted reasons for business fail are owner error in managing costs or driving sales. Either they're not getting enough money coming in through the front door or their letting too much of it walk out the back.

sounds simple don't it? that's because it is once you know what you're doing.

[sicnarftea]

sometimes people just lose the intense motivation they need to continue to run something, due to the fact that it hasn't made them any profit yet.

Problem is that alot of people are impatient and they want results instantly, which ain't gonna happen

[buynick]

It's the American dream to own your own business, but part of the dream was not working super hard to make it work. It's unfortunate.