Lessons from some businesses that didn't make it in 2010

The New York Times recently posted a fascinating article about some businesses that closed in 2010:
How Six Companies Failed to Survive 2010 . We have been counselling small businesses for years how to avoid this fate. See our article: Avoiding Business Bankruptcy

Some of the lessons from the stories these six companies are:

• Be careful how quick you expand, and if you borrow money to do it, look carefully at your assumptions. A good year or two does not guarantee a rosy future.
• Before you make a major move like this, get qualified and experienced legal advice and help from an accountant with small business expertise.
• To run a successful business, you have to be able to tolerate, if not love, the day to day work that needs to be done.
• If you have the next great idea, remember that someone else will likely think of it too or copy your approach. And if they are better financed or quicker to develop the product, you may be the big loser. It's not just a new idea that counts. More importantly, do you have something special that others cannot easily get for themselves? Without these "barriers to entry", the risks of a start-up enterprise are substantially greater.
• Sometimes "stuff happens". If you don't have the reserves to survive, or a lot of luck or solid financial backers, your time in business could be cut short.

Owning and creating a successful small business is a source of pride and accomplishment. It just isn't always as easy as it looks. Experience is a great teacher but the lessons are expensive. Better to get the right advice going in and as business develops.