Online Business | Reasons for Failure

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There can be many reasons for failure when starting or trying to build an online business, but more often than not, if you whittle right down to the core failure reasons, they are usually as a result of two things:

1) Something you have done or 2) something you have not done.

As I’ve mentioned before, I talk to a number of people throughout each week who are looking for information on starting an online business.

So many people actually fail before they start! In other words they focus so much on the fear of failure that they end up doing nothing at all and never take action.

On the other hand, there are those who actually DO start… but after a few months, or even weeks…they quit!

Now, I’d like to be honest and tell you up front, that building an online business in not always a bed of roses! It takes effort, sometimes you have to do things that are not as enjoyable as others… and often it takes a little while to see results.

I know I have shared in the past that when I started, I saw a few results very quickly. It was great…for a while. Then when things simmered down I wondered what the heck was going on, and why I wasn’t knocking the ball out of the park as I thought I might.

To be completely transparent, I occasionally go through similar phases today. There are weeks when I feel to work my backside off, yet, at the end of the week I look back and wonder “what the heck??” Particularly in light of the blood sweat and tears I feel to put into it.

Admittedly, there are times I’ve thought “oh to heck with it, this really is for the birds”, but then, thankfully, I’ve mustered up the common sense to give myself a quick & swift kick in the Khyber Pass and just keep on keeping on.

Inevitably, the Law of Compensation kicks in the next week… and things look a little brighter, however many a time; I do need to analyze my actions more carefully to determine what I might improve upon.

I almost always realize that I have spent more time on activities that do not produce the desired results, and have to determine what I might focus on instead.

Now, with this said, if you are in the category of those who would love to start an online business, you, like many of the people I have spoken to, may have been ‘thinking’ about it for quite some time now.

Though this can feel like work… it isn’t! In other words, thinking about something will not make it happen. (Sadly )

I spoke to a fellow last week who advised me he has been “thinking” about starting an online business for “quite sometime”. I could tell by his tone that he was frustrated.

I asked him “why” he sounded agitated. His response was that he had put so much research into getting started that he no longer knew how to and felt thoroughly confused!

This falls into the ‘over thinking vs. due diligence’ category, and while I completely understand how confusing getting started might sound… the fact of the matter is… it isn’t!

I feel that common sense has to prevail, in that if he had simply taken action a couple of years ago, his chances of success would, without a doubt, been much higher than they are by simply doing nothing.

Based on the above mentality however, I couldn’t help but wonder if he might have been one of those individuals who started … then quit shortly thereafter. (I guess we’ll never know).

I also have spoken to those who ‘have’ started and quit in the past, but have come back to revisit the possibilities a second time around.

When I ask these individuals ‘what’ they did before in the way of working their business, often, they did very little other than perhaps sign up for an opportunity, place one or two ads, but nothing more.

Their reasons for failure are quite self explanatory and are as a result of something they did NOT do. (keep going!)

I do understand that it’s also easy sometimes to get side tracked, or become so consumed by thought, that action doesn’t kick in. Of course ‘expectations’ can get in the way as well, but when it comes down to brass tacks, often failure reasons are indeed a result of what we have not done, opposed to what we have done.

How do you feel about your daily activities?

Do you spend your time working on marketing and customer generation, or do you often get caught up in tweaking things such as the aesthetics of your website?

I understand there are many tasks that are absolutely necessary… but do they over ride the more important result producing activities?

I guess my point is we all fail sometimes, but to be quite honest we should focus on these hiccups as opportunity for improvement rather than throwing in the towel and leaving it at that.

If you’re stuck in a rut right now and feel to be going nowhere fast, ask yourself the following questions:

Am I taking action?

Are my actions producing results?

What could I be doing instead?

What could I be doing in conjunction with my current activities to improve my results?

I have found that once I become very clear on my goals and desired end result, tweak my focus and adjust my activities, i.e.: spend more time on marketing projects, I see notable improvements very quickly.

Let’s, face it, if you keep doing what you always do, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always gotten.

Could it be possible that your ‘less than earth-shattering’ results might be due to something you are NOT doing opposed to what you are?

Could you share what some of your reasons for failure might be? I’d love to hear your discoveries and suggestions!

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