There were about 146,000 business startups a year, and an average of 12,000 business bankruptcies per year from in Canada. A Statistics Canada study on small business failure rates “Key Small Business Statistics – January How Long Do Small Businesses Survive?” found that the first few years were critical. While almost three quarters of small business startups survive the first year, less than one third of micro companies (less than five employees) were in business after five years.

These statistics by themselves may be of little value to you directly. We know how many small businesses survive and for how long, but it’s far more important to know why some survive and others do not. There are a lot of studies on small business failure. Searching “reasons for small business failure” with quotations on Google will give you almost 700 results (about 38 million without!). “Why small businesses fail” will give you almost a thousand.

The study by Statistics Canada “Failing Concerns: Business Bankruptcies in Canada found major internal factors of small business failure was management deficiency, financial management problems and poor marketing.

The Small Business Administration study “Financial Difficulties of Small Businesses and Reasons for Their Failure” in found several causes of small business bankruptcy: outside business conditions (38.5%), financing (28%), inside business conditions (27.1%), taxes (20%), disputes (18.8%), personal calamities and other (32.9%)

There is a wealth of information on this subject, but what are the common factors? There are four basic areas:

External factors

External factors include new competition, your major client moving out of town, poor weather if you’re a seasonal business, or economic downturns. They’re often largely out of our control, and may be unique to your particular company, but there are often ways to mitigate them. For example, if you have a seasonal business, such as a landscaping company (at least up here in the cold north it’s seasonal) you could buy a bobcat to provide income during your off-season with snow removal. The bottom line is, have a contingency plan for external factors that could have a negative impact on your small business success.

Lack of management

Big companies have the luxury of being able to hire several people to get all the jobs done that need to be done, but chances are you’re going to have to do it all yourself, at least for awhile. That means you’re not only going to have to develop your product or service, you’re also going to have to make financial, accounting, legal, marketing, human resources, and purchasing decisions.

You may do some of these tasks very well, but it’s unlikely that you do all these tasks well, and even if you do, you might want to contact a lawyer and an accountant at the very least. And, research, research, and research some more, and when you’re done researching, find an expert or two bounce ideas off and give you solid advice.

Lack of planning

Small businesses often fail because of lack of planning. Let me make a bold statement: the single-most vital part of your business success is your business plan. Why? Simply put, your business plan specifically and concretely lists your goals for the next few years. It spells out, step by step, how you’re going to meet those goals, and gives you something to measure your performance against at the end of your business year.

Finally, a complete business plan helps you get financing and includes a marketing plan, which addresses lack of marketing and insufficient financing, two more often cited reasons for small business failure.

I have one more thing to say about business plans. It does very little good to write a business plan, put it in a drawer and never look at it again. That same 1997 Statistics Canada study we talked about earlier found that successful small business owners refer to and revise their business plans often.

Lack of marketing

Most small businesses seem to think it takes a lot of money to market their product or service effectively. That’s simply not true. There are many ways to market inexpensively. You could use direct mail marketing which is as cheap as a stamp, or email marketing, which costs nothing. The point is, you need to get your product or service “out there” somehow. You may have the best product or service out there, something completely unique from anything else, but what good does that do if nobody knows about it?

So there you have it–my thoughts on the main reasons why small businesses fail, and how you can avoid becoming a small business failure statistic by developing a contingency plan, consulting with experts, and developing and using a business and marketing plan.

If you are thinking of starting a small business, I’m most certainly not trying to discourage you. I sincerely believe being in business for yourself may possibly be the most rewarding career there is, but a little knowledge can go a long way towards arming you against small business failure.

Ah, the old-fashioned country auction! The idea of a country auction conjures up certain images for people. The image of a fast-talking auctioneer offering up an antique table or chair is a popular example.

People who are buying household goods or collectibles are looking to get their items at the lowest price possible. However, the people who are selling their items at auction are hoping for the highest price!

Unless a person is in the business of buying and selling antiques or other items, not a lot of thought goes into how goods are prepared for sale via the auction process. However, if you are one of the growing number of people using auction venues to sell your collectibles or other inventory, there are a few things to learn first about how to sell at auction before you bring a truckload of stuff over to the next event.

Tip 1: Make sure the things you want to sell are a good “fit” for the auction house you’ll be using.

Never bring a load to an auction house without actually having been to one of the previous auctions. It’s important to get a feel for the type of goods that the house sells. For example, at one very rural country auction it was common for the owners to sell live chickens, pots and pans, car parts, and farm equipment.

After close investigation, this would not be the right venue for selling your daughter’s “Hello Kitty” collection. On the other hand, the spare John Deere parts that you bought at last week’s yard sale might be just the right thing for the buying crowd at this auction.

Tip 2: Be sure you clearly understand the terms and policies of the auction house.

Visit with the auctioneer ahead of time. Call to find out what the best days and times are to visit. One of the worst possible times to drop in for an informational visit with an auctioneer is the day of the auction. Call ahead and ask. While you’re at it, find out what are the best days and times to drop your stuff off.

Once you have a little time with the auctioneer, you’ll be able to find out what type of commission he or she takes from consigners (which is you), and what type of paperwork might be needed. Some auction houses send out Form 1099 tax forms at the end of the year. An auctioneer may need to see your identification and have you fill out a W-9. Be prepared.

Find out what happens to your items if they don’t sell. For example, some auctioneers may have a minimum starting bid. If, for some reason, one of your items does not sell, it may be grouped with another one of your pieces. Know the auctioneer’s strategy beforehand so that you aren’t surprised on pay day.

Tip 3: Make sure the auctioneer knows what you’re selling.

It might be perfectly obvious to you that the signed print you are consigning is a rare and valuable piece of art. However, the auctioneer may not know this particular artist. Make a note of anything particularly special about your items, and leave the note with the piece. Be sure to tell the auctioneer about it as well. He or she might determine that this is something to highlight on the company website or in the newspaper listing.

Tip 4: Present your items neatly.

No one likes to have to dig through a box full of grimy and greasy car parts to see what treasures might be in there. Separate the parts and lay them out on a flat, or use more than one box to de-clutter the lot.

There is no need to buy fancy display boxes. It’s easy enough to go to the local convenience store or supermarket and ask if you can have the emptied boxes or flats that they are discarding.

While it’s good to present clean items, take care not to ruin the value of anything by over cleaning. For example, if you find some old cast iron cookware, clean the obvious dirt and grime, but don’t scrub it to its original finish. For many people, this ruins the value of the item. So, clean and tidy and organized is the key here.

Tip 5: Don’t complain to the auctioneer if your stuff doesn’t sell for as much as you’d like.

The phrase to remember here is, “You win some; you lose some.” That’s just the way it is. There are some days where an auction house is loaded with people who all seem to want what you’re selling. There will be other days where the crowd is sparse, and the bidding is simply not competitive.

Remember that it’s in the auctioneer’s best interest to sell your things for the highest possible hammer price. But sometimes, it’s just not going to be a stellar sale. The auctioneer is only human, and is also disappointed if a sale doesn’t go as well as planned.

If you notice that every time you bring a bunch of goods to sell that you’re not realizing as much as you think you honestly should, try another auction venue and compare apples to apples. That is, bring the same types of items to the new auctioneer and compare the results.

Unless the auctioneer is particularly disagreeable or inconsiderate to you or buyers, there is no reason to confront him or her about a sale. If you find you just don’t care for an auctioneer’s style or methods, find another one. Believe me, there are plenty of them out there!

The primary thing to remember as you learn how to sell at auction is that the business is unpredictable at best. You will have good days, some not-so-good days, some great days. The more you sell, the more experience you will gain, and the more enjoyable the business will be.

The internet home based business is a growing industry and one that is here to stay. Believe it or not, many people today are building an internet home based business to help grow their traditional MLM. If you are struggling with your MLM, you can do it too. Let’s show you how.First let’s look at the failings of building a traditional MLM. I think MLM’s are a wonderful business. Having been involved with an icon in the MLM industry I know how hard it is to succeed in the MLM industry. There is a stigma involved with the MLM industry and for whatever reason, many people are just negative to the idea. But the fact remains, many people today want to be involved in some form of home business. The other fact is many millions of people are on the internet every single day looking for an online or home based business opportunity.What is the main draw back to the traditional MLM? We can sum this up in one short sentence. The answer is, finding people who are truly looking for an opportunity. Even despite the stigma of the traditional MLM icon, if you find someone who is truly looking and can set them down to honestly look at the opportunity; they will almost always see it. But the drawback is, you can only approach so many people in a given amount of time. You have to weed through the non lookers to find the legitimate lookers. And usually the case is before you find enough people to build your business, most people will burn out. So how do you efficiently find legitimate people who are really looking to build their own business from home? The answer, build an internet home based business and advertise for them.The key is to get them to come to you, and you can do that with an internet home based business. Remember, there are many millions of people on the internet every day looking for a home based business opportunity. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if just a small percentage of them would seek you out for your opportunity? If only a small percentage of those got in with you, that is a lot! And remember, there will be many more millions online looking again tomorrow! So, how do we find these people?You can find them by building your own online business. Let’s say you had a hundred or so small sites on the internet that were seen by hundreds if not thousands of people every day, and you had a small add for your opportunity, don’t you think some of those people would get a hold of you to see what it was all about? And remember, those sites would be working for you twenty four hours a day, seven days a week three hundred and sixty five days a year. There’s no way you by yourself could do that. And just what if you could be making a high six figure a year income with those sites apart from your traditional MLM? Wouldn’t that be incredible too?Well it can be. We can teach you how to build a successful internet home based business that will do all that and more. It all depends if you are teachable and willing to work from home in your spare time to create this business. The internet is a growing industry, and there are billions of people a day on the internet searching for something. Why not learn how to capitalize on it too?