Fatal Pitfalls Of Running Your Own Business

1. Choosing an incompatible business
2. Unrealistic expectations
3. Using a Business Plan not tailored to you
4. Using inaccurate sales forecasts
5. Locating on the wrong side of the street
6. Lease arrangements that can rob you
7. Shortsighted financial arrangements
8. Choosing the wrong organizational structure
9. Missing your target market
10. Designing a layout that discourages buying
11. Buying costly and ineffective advertising
12. Using inappropriate selling techniques
13. Setting prices that hold down profits
14. Inconsistent management
15. Living off cash flow, not profits
16. Letting your accountant run your business
17. Ineffective inventory planning
18. Chaotic management
19. Expanding for the wrong reasons
20. Believing that you will work forever

Source: Why Entrepreneurs Fail, James W. Halloran, Liberty Hall Press, 1991