Why some home businesses fail

Entrepreneurs who plant the seeds to grow their own businesses typically have a vision, drive and are highly motivated to help cultivate their gardens. Without these attributes, it would be very difficult to succeed with a home business because it takes dedication and a serious approach to succeed.


Being there is so much competition, if your goal is to have a successful home business, you'll have to grow your customer base. That means you'll need to make yourself seen and your brand recognized. According to The Motley Fool, 80 percent of businesses make it past the first year but only about 50 percent make it to five years. Fast-forward to 10 years and only one-third are still in business (these include all businesses, not just home businesses, but the latter have unique challenges).

Why do some home businesses fail?

Lack of planning

To succeed in any business, a strong vision needs to guide the dream. Running a successful home business requires serious planning. Without a clear focus of what kind of business to start, what direction the owner wants the company to go, and future plans of growth, any efforts will suffer. Home business owners not able or willing to fully flesh out a strategic business plan with a vision increase their chances of failure.

Choosing the wrong business

While it is great to come up with a great idea and want to run with it, it's important to look at the wider scope before making the plunge. While an idea may sound lucrative for the now, consider whether or not it will still hold validity in a few years. Ask yourself, is this something you see yourself doing for the long-term? If the business doesn't offer long-term yields, the investment may not be worth it. Additionally, if it's a product or service the home business owner doesn't particularly enjoy, this too has a high probability of leading to failure.

Poor management and focus

Running a business from home definitely has specific challenges that aren't the same as other small businesses that are run outside the home. Starting any kind of small business takes a considerable amount of time, and this deflects from personal and family life. Working from home is a challenge because the lines between home life and work life are entwined. If you want to operate out of your home, you'll want to set definitive boundaries to separate the two as much as you can.
  • Treat your business the same way you would a job outside of the home
  • Establish a separately organized workspace 
  • Designate an independent telephone line so there are no distractions by other things going on at home
  • Set regular office hours to help focus be kept throughout business hours
Treating a designated space solely as workspace will help keep interruptions to a minimum. Those who get easily distracted by other things, or blow off work in favor of doing something else because they don't have to answer to anyone, often find problems in their home businesses.

Additionally, it's also easier for the home business owner to be interrupted or for others to assume they aren't busy because they are theoretically at "at home". This causes a lot of problems for home business owners because it's hard to manage a balance between home and work life when that line gets blurred.

Lack of financing

Another important factor to consider is the financial component. It takes start-up money to open a home business and if for owners who cannot successfully pull the funding together or discover opening the business would deplete financial resources completely this could develop into a problem.

This is especially true for home businesses that take out a loan, aren't able to profit, or at least break even and, as a result, don't have means to pay the loan back. A sound and secure financial plan is necessary before attempting to open a home business.

Many small businesses fail because they neglect to account for the fact that most businesses do not profit the first year, and it is common to not profit for the next couple of years either. This has to be accounted for in the initial planning phrases so preparations can be made.

Weak marketing

Developing a successful home business takes a lot of effort in marketing. A website is a must and significant effort should be invested in developing a strong web presence. For a home business owner, it takes some creativity to be effectively "seen" and establish a reputation.

A home business owner has to find affordable marketing venues that are effective. If not enough investment is put into marketing and getting the business name known, the business will have trouble succeeding.

Start-up of a home business takes considerable dedication and carving a niche for yourself in a competitive environment can be tough. Sixty-nine percent of entrepreneurs start their businesses at home. If you want to succeed, you'll need to have knowledge of the pitfalls and understand the ways to avoid them. Accomplishing this greatly heighten your chances of success.

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