Home topics news News News Did you know 80% of businesses don’t fail in the first year? Rhondalynn Korolak July 20, 2011 That’s the good news, now do you want to hear the bad news? If you do a quick search on the internet, you will uncover hundreds of experts, coaches, accountants, journalists and government organizations that quote the statistic “9 out of 10 business fail in the first year”. However, the fact that the statistic is widely touted doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s true or backed up by empirical evidence. So what is the truth? I searched the internet and couldn’t find confirmation of any study that was done to back-up this statistic by a reputable or well-known bureau. What I did in fact find was some evidence to the contrary. According to credit reference checking agency Veda Advantage, only a small percentage of new businesses close in their first 12-months of business. What is the exact amount, you ask? Would you believe, less than two percent? However, they assert another 32 percent close their doors between their second and fifth year of operations, while 21 percent wind up between the sixth and ninth. So, that is the good news. However, as you can probably guess, it’s not ALL good news. Just because a start-up doesn’t go under in the first 12 months, doesn’t mean that the owner is running a successful enterprise. I wonder if anyone has bothered to measure how many of the businesses who survived: Paid