I offer business development consulting services primarily on a performance basis, but even so, its a challenge to secure clients because business owners (startup and small) would rather operate from ego (I dont need help till I have failed) rather then practicallity. Some of the common excuses I see businesses hide behind (and I recoginize them all because I have used some at one point or another and I can admit it) are:

1) Not enough money - Top excuse, not reason, because if you are starting a business it is your responsibility to investigate your market and similar businesses to gauge how much capital it will take to carry you to a point of either breakeven or profitability.

2) To much competition - This excuse is used instead of acknowledging the honest reason "I have not made my brand diffrent enough from everyone elses to be noticed"

3) Bad employee's - If your employee's are stealing from you, are lazy, are unproductive, are insubordinate then the truth is, they are reflecting you/your stlye of management. This truth is hard to swallow because again, business owners often deal from a place of ego. There is more that goes into hiring then just a good resume. This knowledge alone can save business owners much time ,money and headache.

4) Service/Product has become obsolete - This will always be a factor, but not a reason. As time changes, so will the marketplace. It is every business owners responsibility to either adapt or change with it. Ex: If widget A used to sell lijke hotcakes but now everyone is buying widget B, why try to sell widget A at a discount instead of just updating your inventory to include widget B?

I named this post "Top Excuses" because while they may seem to be reasons, they can all be prevented or controlled. A reaosn implies that something is not within controll or can not be prevented.

I look forward to this new year of helping businesses overcome these excuses for failure and embrace an attitude and mindset of nothing but success.