We were handed a new report today which lists the main reasons for business failure in 2009.  As the current rate of business failure is 5.2%, we thought the results might be useful…

1. Failure to focus on a specific market because of poor research
2. Failure to control cash
3. Failure to control costs
4. Failure to adapt your product to meet customer needs
5. Failure to carry out decent market research
6. Failure to build a team that is compatible and has the skills to finance, produce, sell and market
7. Failure to pay taxes
8. Failure to try and grow
9. Failure to gain new markets
10. Under-capitalisation

No less than 50% of these reasons relate to marketing (and I would argue number 6 could also be included as marketing, from an internal point of view).  It makes sense to me, as I know how powerful marketing can be at boosting profits and helping companies grow.  But, if you’re not using marketing to its full potential, now would be a great time to start.

A couple of years ago, a trainer shared this exercise with me and made me realise that, although I thought I was serious about my goals, I wasn’t getting any closer to achieving them.  That realisation changed my attitude and my business and now, just two years later, I can already touch one of the most fundamental goals in my life.  Trust me when I say this can be powerful stuff – If you’re ready, let’s give it a go…

Take just one of your 5-year goals from yesterday.  (We’d recommend choosing the one you most want to accomplish, as that’s a great one to test.)

To discover how ‘BAD‘ you want that goal, use the following formula…

• Give the goal a score out of 10 for BELIEF - How much do you believe you can achieve that goal, with 1 being low and 10 being high.
• Next, score the goal out of 10 for ACTION - What action are you taking right now that is taking you closer to achieving your goal?  Again, 1 is low and 10 is high.
• Finally, score your goal out of 10 for DESIRE - How much do you want the goal to happen?  (1 is low and 10 is high)

Take your three scores and multiply them as follows:

BELIEF x ACTION x DESIRE = Total (out of a possible 1000)

If you scored over 700 points on your goal, you’re very serious and you’re already taking action towards achieving it – well done!  If you scored lower than 700, which of the three scores let you down?  And what could you do to change things?

Often, our Belief and Desire is intact, but we’re let down by our Actions.  Tomorrow’s post is the final one of our goal setting series and we’ll start to have a think about taking some positive steps towards your 5 year goals.