Chapter 1 Foundations For Small Business

Why Do Small Businesses Fail? There is no more puzzling or better studied issue in the field of small business than what causes them to fail. Given the critical role of small businesses in the US economy, the economic consequences of failure can be significant. Yet there is no definitive answer to the question. Three broad categories of causes of failure have been identified: managerial inadequacy, financial inadequacy, and external factors. The first cause, managerial inadequacyThe failure of a firm is based on the limitations of its owner, such as a lack of business skills or a lack of behavior skills., is the most frequently mentioned reason for firm failure.T. C. Carbone, “The Challenges of Small Business Management,” Management World 9, no. 10 (1980): 36. Unfortunately, it is an all-inclusive explanation, much like explaining that all plane crashes are due to pilot failure. Over thirty years ago, it was observed that “while everyone agrees that bad management is the prime cause of failure, no one agrees what ‘bad management’ means nor how it can be recognized except that the company has collapsed-then everyone agrees that how badly managed it was.”John Argenti, Corporate Collapse: The Causes and Symptoms (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976), 45. This observation remains true today.
The second most common explanation cites financial inadequacyThe failure of a firm is based on financial issues, such as having inadequate financing at the beginning, inadequate financial controls, poor cash-flow management, and the inability to raise additional capital., or a lack of financial strength in a firm. A third set of explanations center on environmental or external factorsThe failure of the firm is based on external factors, such as a downturn in the economy, rising interest rates, or changes in customer demand., such as a significant decline in the economy. Because it is important that small firms succeed, not fail, each factor will be discussed in detail. However, these factors are not independent elements distinct from each other. A declining economy will depress a firm’s sales, which negatively affects a firm’s cash flow. An owner who lacks the knowledge and experience to manage this cash flow problem will see his or her firm fail. Managerial inadequacy is generally perceived as the major cause of small business failure.
Unfortunately, this term encompasses a very broad set of issues. It has been estimated that two thirds of small business failures are due to the incompetence of the owner-manager.Graham Beaver, “Small Business: Success and Failure,” Strategic Change 12, no. 3 (2003): 115-22. The identified problems cover behavioral issues, a lack of business skills, a lack of specific technical skills, and marketing myopia. Specifying every limitation of these owners would be prohibitive. However, some limitations are mentioned with remarkable consistency. Having poor communication skills, with employees and/or customers, appears to be a marker for failure.Sharon Nelton, “Ten Key Threats to Success,” Nation’s Business 80, no. 6 (1992): 18-24. The inability to listen to criticism or divergent views is a marker for failure, as is the inability to be flexible in one’s thinking.Robert N. Steck, “Why New Businesses Fail,” Dun and Bradstreet Reports 33, no. Ask many small business owners where their strategic plans exist, and they may point to their foreheads. The failure to conduct formal planning may be the most frequently mentioned item with respect to small business failure.
Given the relative lack of resources, it is not surprising that small firms tend to opt for intuitive approaches to planning.G. E. Tibbits, “Small Business Management: A Normative Approach,” in Small Business Perspectives, ed. Peter Gorb, Phillip Dowell, and Peter Wilson (London: Armstrong Publishing, 1981), 105.,Jim Brown, Business Growth Action Kit (London: Kogan Page, 1995), 26. Formal approaches to planning are seen as a waste of time,Christopher Orpen, “Strategic Planning, Scanning Activities and the Financial Performance of Small Firms,” Journal of Strategic Change 3, no. 1 (1994): 45-55. or they are seen as too theoretical.Sandra Hogarth-Scott, Kathryn Watson, and Nicholas Wilson, “Do Small Business Have to Practice Marketing to Survive and Grow?,” Marketing Intelligence and Planning 14, no. 1 (1995): 6-18. The end result is that many small business owners fail to conduct formal strategic planning in a meaningful way.Isaiah A. Litvak and Christopher J. Maule, “Entrepreneurial Success or Failure-Ten Years Later,” Business Quarterly 45, no. 4 (1980): 65.,Hans J. Pleitner, “Strategic Behavior in Small and Medium-Sized Firms: Preliminary Considerations,” Journal of Small Business Management 27, no.
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