Many small businesses fail before their 5th anniversary in Nigeria. Small businesses make up a huge 50% of job providers.

A lot of reasons are put forward as to why these businesses fail. Poor management, insufficient capital, shortage of resources, lack of customer service, and unavailability of products are some of the common reasons that small businesses fail.

What is surprising to see is that these failures usually happen because owners do not plan well for their business. This could come from a failure to understand the importance of marketing for their business, planning to limited their options, or lack of focus on what their business is and what customers expect of it.

Nigeria has become known for its innovative culture, so it is not a surprise to see that these failures, once identified, are usually easily rectified. One of the first things that needs to be done is to define a plan, whether as a series of reports or an actual Business Plan. Having a Business Plan is not enough, it does not help you to know where you are heading, you will need to know how to get there.

The first step is to ensure that there is a clear understanding of what your business is and what customers want from it. This will enable you to plan your business successfully to make profits in an uncluttered and competitive environment. Having clear understanding of what you are going to do will take you a long way to ensuring that you do it well. Once you have a clear picture of what is your business, the next step is to make sure you have the right people. You may not have the best employees in the world but you surely need those people to do what you do best. A simple lack of guidance can lead to major problems.

You need to know exactly what you are looking for from your employees and what level of expertise you require of them at all times. Making sure you have people that are up to your requirements is important, no one is good enough for all tasks, you have to look for the best individuals to do the ones you are not currently doing. For example, if you do not develop your website, you need web developers up to speed for that, they should be able to develop one that meets your needs. They should be able to develop other systems like backup systems, technical support systems, etc. You also need people that can train others to do what you do not, well.

* Marketing will be a major factor in your success or failure. Make sure you have the right people to do it. You need to be clear about what your marketing efforts need and how to structure each effort. You need to identify who your target markets are, what they want from you, how you can satisfy them, what they like and what they don’t. Marketing is the most important factor in your success.
* Finances are always an issue but never take that for granted. Know exactly what your costs are and you need to make sure that they are budgeted and you keep track of what you have spent so that you are not caught off guard by sudden changes.

The last element you need to make sure that you have is a plan of action. It doesn’t matter what the plan of action is, it needs to be specific. Your plan of action needs to be something that will get you from where you are – presently – to where you want to be in the future. Your plan of action needs to have objectives, milestones, and a plan of action that you will take to get you from where you are to where you want to be.

These five factors are the elements you need to make sure you have if you want to build a successful venture. Now you may be saying what I need is not that complicated; just assemble everything and make a plan of action. There is nothing complicated about it if it is put together correctly!