112: Why Small Businesses Fail and What You Can Do to Succeed with Ernie Silvers

If you want to succeed as an entrepreneur, don't let your limiting beliefs stop you from achieving great things. And if you're ready to crush your goals, keep reading and learn from the experts. In this week's episode, Ursula Mentjes, together with her special guest, Ernie Silvers, talks about the reasons why small businesses fail and what you can do to succeed. Part One of ‘Why Small Businesses Fail and What You Can Do to Succeed with Ernie Silvers’ Many small businesses fail because they're in it for the wrong reasons. They're not focused on growing the business and providing service. They don't know what they want to be when they grow up. They don't know what kind of job they want. So, they end up creating a job, not a company. Sometimes they see the business as an extension of their ATM. So, if you cannot separate your life from your company, you're going to fail. The company has to be a separate entity. “Many small businesses fail because they're in it for the wrong reason.” — Ernie Silvers  Ernie is the MBA Programs Director at the Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration at California State University, San Bernardino, CA (CSUSB). Ernie has been teaching undergraduate and graduate-level courses in the Entrepreneurship, Management, and Marketing departments since 2014.  Ernie regularly teaches Small Business Management, Organizational Behavior, Administrative Communications, Marketing Principles, as well as Leadership and Ethics. As a professional, Ernie has more than 30-years of diverse managerial experience in executive management, operations management, manufacturing, sales and marketing, human resources, and logistics. The bulk of his career has been spent in the automotive aftermarket, which is a 63-billion-dollar global industry.   Part Two of ‘Why Small Businesses Fail and What You Can Do to Succeed with Ernie Silvers’ If you're in business because you need money, that's the worst reason, because you only see people as a paycheck. You can't serve somebody whom you consider a thing and not a person. Money has to be a result of what you do, not the reason you do it. You want to help people. You want to provide a service. You want to bring value and money as a result of providing excellent value. Do you know what it takes for a new entrepreneur to be successful? Focus, passion, and commitment. You have to be committed no matter what you're doing. You have to focus and you have to know what you're doing. It's like if you're driving a car, you have to look out the windshield. If you're looking out the side windows, you're going to crash your vehicle. You have to stay focused on what you're doing, and you have to do what you're passionate about. If you're not excited, why do it? If you can't have fun doing something, then why would you waste your time doing it? “Money has to be a result of what you do, not the reason you do it.” —  Ernie Silvers  Many people will try to put you down and tell you that you're not going to make it. Success is not a straight line. It's all over the place. You have to understand that there's going to be ups and downs. You will experience failures along the way before you become successful. You need to be around people who will encourage you to keep going.  You can either create your imposter syndrome, or you can let somebody else create it for you. Imposter syndrome can be defined as a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success. Sometimes you let other people's high expectations