The Problem:

Over the years, I've talked to a lot of people in every different industry.  I've told a lot of people that their business would fail unless they changed and then watched them continue on the same path as their business failed.  I cannot help people who don't want to be helped.  For many years I thought I could, but now I know I can't.

It is not about where you went to business school or if you went to business school or how smart you are or how much money you had when you started.  A business fails to survive when it runs out of cash. 

It is very hard to raise money when you don't have any (when you need it) and very easy to raise money when you have a lot (when you don't need it).  That's another statement that doesn't seem to make sense but always seems to be true.

Failure is usually the result of one of three fundamental problems:

1.)  Not Living in Reality!

Delusion is the disease of a small businessperson.  Assumptions not based on reality.  By there nature, all small business people have a vision.  

When these visions are reality based, they create the cash necessary for survival.  

When these visions are not reality based, they are bad dreams and the most common source of failure.

2.) Not learning from your clients!

In this new economy, if you don't give your clients what they want, someone else will.

3.)  Not Living in the Moment!

Successful small business people know deep inside their bone marrow: "Today is cash.  Yesterday is bad debt.  Tomorrow is a promissory note."  This applies to both small and large businesses.