Hi Linda, What I see. Lack of knowledge, afraid of failure, pessimism. Those are some I see all the time. Everyone posts truth..however, I know you have a word that will sum it all up! Bring it on.. Angela

Hi Linda, I guess I opened a can of worms here. I follow a lot of statistics also. Like 70% of all off line new business fail in the first 2 years. I also read all the relpys so far and some good points have been brought out so far. Question 1What does that tell you? 1. Any business is hard to get started and into profit. Online business is not the answer to instance success. Question 2.Do you know the #1 reason that fail rates are so high? It's not "lack of money" although that's part of it.... Take a guess? 2. Most people starting a business on line or off line has "no" business training and or experience. At least in America any one can start a business but that does not mean they will succeed. You can get yourself a box of pencils and stand on the corner and sale them. Your in business. But unless you understand if there is a market for the pencils before you invest in them you can stand there a long time before making a sale. I could go on here, but I will wait to see the other replies. Yes money does have a part in it, or I would say the lack of money plays a huge role in how a home business owner goes about developing their marketing plan. Very few people I have met in home business has the finances to say buy 2-4 grand worth of ads with google. So they have to find other means to get known. Ok the preacher will be quite here. Have a blessed day, Johnny

Hi Linda: It's been a while since i've posted to forums so I thought i might take a second to toss in my 2 cents here. I think there are several main reasons why businesses fail so quickly. 1) Lack of proper planning. 2) Lack of committment 3) Poor Choice of Business I think it is from these main reasons that the other, smaller reasons stem. Lack of proper planning generally leads to either a very unrealistic expectations of the business-to-be (either too positive or too negative) which can lead to problems down the road. For example, one who creates their business plan using very optimistic figures, people become disappointed and discouraged when they see the harsh reality of being in business for yourself. Long hours, little monetary return for the first couple of years at least, no paid vacations, company benefits, and you are directly responsible for the success or failure of your company. Many are not ready for this and become overwhelmed. Add to that if the business wasn't originally a passion or an interest of the business owner, that's a recipe for folding. On the other hand, one who creates a business plan with numbers that are too conservative may get discouraged and never get started at all. The bottom line is what they believed a being their own bosses would represent and actually owning a successful business were two different things. Preparing a well-thought-out, conservative business plan prepares you for the cold hard numbers you're going to face inevitably. Choosing a business which complements what you enjoy doing normally is like choosing to get paid for something you do anyways. This will get you through the rough spots and keep your outlook positive or at the very least prevent it from dropping because you chose to do something you likely would have done anyway today? Finally, committing to your success will not necessarily guarantee that you will make it but it will certainly put your chances much higher than those who all of a sudden decide one day "Hey, I think I'll be a business owner!"

G'day Linda, There have been so many good reasons posted here already so I will not repeat them. I think the rate is so high because people expect the internet to work miracles..instant everything.. they just seem to quit to soon. This could also be because they did not research the business...took the word of an internet marketer promising the "next big thing" and the lack of passion for the business. I hoppe this makes sense. I am trying to keep it short & not rave on. Have a great Christmas and New Year. Bryan

Hi Linda & other forumites, All of the replies so far have been quite thoughtful and very interesting. Well said folks! Linda, I just wanted to pick up on ONE thing. I saw Johnny's comment several weeks ago. Since I have had a real red hot go about MLM's on the MLM thread I decided to let it go. But... ... since you have picked it up and want to make further comment I am gonna weigh in again. Johnny said: ====================== "... he doesn't like MLM simply because 5% of people make money and 95% don't." ====================== Sorry to pour more cold water over MLM but that success figure is way too high. I have done a personal calculation, based on my own 10 years in MLM which took in 3 MLMs and here is my figure, which I believe is far more accurate: 0.3% of people in MLM make an EXCELLENT living, 99.7% of people in MLM simply support the lifestyle of the 0.3% (but don't realize it). These were REAL figures - not an estimate that people will generalize over. Perhaps I will concede that there are 5% who are contenders to graduate into the 0.3% but, at best, that 4.7% (5% minus 0.3%) really only ever break even. In other words, if they did nothing they would be just as financially well off. This is easily represented in the classic J-curve. Just travel along the horizontal axis (# of people) until you get to 95% where there is a gradual rise upwards until you reach the 99.7% mark where the line then goes vertical ($ made). Like I said, when I determined those percentages I did them with REAL figures not a guesstimate. Since what I have said here is more appropriate to the MLM forum I will copy it across to there. I just wanted to inform everybody how miniscule the REAL success rate in MLM is. Nobody else will tell you that - especially the king-pins (the 0.3%)! Will they tell you that? NO! Gary Simpson.