How can I stop a new business from collapsing

In Denmark 60% of all business that fail do not fail because they are not profitable. Their primary cause of failure is cash flow issues. This means that a business might have gotten lots of good customers who are satisfied and things look bright, apart from that on the short term the business is not able to pay things like salaries and rent.

During the height of the financial crisis, I spoke to the lawer who was responsible for liquidating a company, which had operated profitably for 36 years, and had 20 employees. This company was not able to get a loan of just 60.000$ dollars in any bank (their old bank had gone bankrupt), and therefore had to be liquidated.

The best way not to fail is build an amazing product with a referral model so you can get customers easily (like DropBox). It also has to have a simple, beautiful and elegant design so that people actually enjoy using it. And the other piece of the puzzle is to start charging from Day 1.

Don't hire unnecessary help and don't spend money on non-essential things (plush office space, large advertising budgets, etc).

If you can build something that people tell their friends about and will actually pay you for, I think you're in good shape to be a successful company.

I think the answer is more nuanced and interesting than just "they weren't good enough." Sure, some startups mismanage cashflow because they don't all have great accountants. Some are just in a dying market. Lots of technology startups fail simply because they can't keep up.

Have you ever had an idea so simple and brilliant that you couldn't believe it didn't already exist? When you're dealing with the web, that could mean you've got a matter of weeks or even days before someone else gets the same idea to market. Even if you're a programmer (which I am), this is a really fast pace to work in. So the first thing you launch has to be great, but you also have to iterate really quickly.

That's just a lot to ask from most startup teams, when you're also trying to figure out salaries, insurance, real estate, etc.. Which is why (in New York, at least) you see lots of tech startups sharing giant rooms and long picnic tables. They've gotta put all their money into the code.

All that said, examining why startups fail never really seemed that useful to me. Primarily because there are just so damn many of them failing, compared to the number who aren't. I work in music as well, and it's amazing the similarities I see between bands and tech startups. What's particularly interesting is the similarities between the successful ones for each.

What I find is a universal thread? Who keeps going no matter what. Cheesy, I know, but it seems to be the thread.

Musicians, entrepreneurs, bands, startups... some "make it big" on a stroke of luck and crazy timing (see: chat-roulette / britney spears), and some persevere through failure after failure, until they succeed (see: madonna, apple).

Just a thought from a fellow scared-shitless startup owner. It's what keeps me going. Hope it helps.

Great Question! It takes hard work, persistence , vision, and a focus. The reason most fail is usually becuase they run out of cash...so the goal is make sales! Get in front of as many clients as you can and make sure you are set up to deliver or have apln as to how you will deliver once they come through. Forecast your cash flow so you will know when you will be short well in advance so you can figure out how you will cover it...If you do these things you are off to a good start! One more thing...DON"T LISTEN TO WHAT OTHERS SAY JUST BECAUSE OTHER FAILED THERE ARE MANY WHO MADE IT !!!!