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It's thought that around fifty percent of all businesses fail within just five years of incorporation. You only have to look around you at the high street to see that making a success commercially is not that easy.

Last year, so many of our well-known brands went bust that it seemed as if even the most well thought-out and loved business ideas were destined to fail, as the economy shifted and people's attitudes towards buying changed.



However, wherever you look on entrepreneur sites and online business advice forums, you'll still come across the die-hard optimists who think that there has never been a better time to start an online business.

In many ways, I share this view. 

What I don't really agree with are some of the ideas that are being generated through this optimistic and passionate view.

I might sound a bit cynical right now, but hear me out. I firmly believe that the majority of new business start-ups have their thinking topsy-turvy.

What seems to happen more often than not, is the following kind of scenario:

A man walks in to a bar. He sits down and orders a pint of beer. While he is drinking his beer, he thinks; I like beer. I wish there was a way I could work with beer all day.

And so, driven by the motivation to work with the thing he likes best in the whole world, he decides to set up a beer company. He invests in his product, and is hell-bent on making money by bringing what he loves to the world. His motivation is sound, his product is sound, and yet the company fails.

Now what should happen, is something along these lines: 

A man walks in to a bar. He sits down and orders a pint of beer. While he is drinking, he overhears a couple on the next table talking about the lack of decent food available in the bar. He sits and thinks for a few minutes, listening  to the pros and cons of not being able to eat there, although the beer is so good.

He casually asks some other customers, and they all agree they would love to be able to eat while having their beer. He then negotiates a rate with the bar owner to provide take-away food from a nearby restaurant, and makes a profit by supplying it. He also enjoys his beer much more.

This may be a silly example, but the logic stays true. 

The first scenario shows someone starting a business because they feel like it, with the motivation being his own idea of what would work.

The second shows someone starting a business based on what customers would like to purchase.

This is the single most important question you will ever ask before you begin your online entrepreneurialism:


If the answer is no, no matter how much you like your idea, or how passionate you may be about your product or proposed service, your business will fail.

If entrepreneurs simply chose to set up business because they liked their idea, rather than because there was a real customer demand, we'd have a lot more cake shops and probably no bathrooms!
So, the next time you get really excited about a new venture and decide you want to take the plunge in creating a business from it, stop and think about your rationale.

If you're reasoning is more because you like the industry than you know there is demand, stop, think things through, do your research and see what else you can come up with, that will really work.

Author Bio
Andrew is a full-time Internet Marketing Specialist and blogger from the UK. At his blog he shares all his knowledge and experience on how to make a blog.

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