Sink or Swim: Why 10 UK Businesses Close For Every Seven Start-ups

  • Over half of business owners prioritise growth as part of their business strategy with only 12% prioritising cost management 
  • ‘Wrong business model’ voted top reason for failure for entrepreneurs with growth seen as the biggest priority
  • Legislation and economic climate are the biggest issues facing companies across 8 major sectors according to survey  

The startup world is a fiercely competitive one, with companies across sectors opening and closing at a rapid rate. Safestore have carried out research to find the biggest concerns for biggest owners, their most fundamental goals, and what they believe to be the top reasons for a business failing.

Biggest Business Issues 

In every sector, business owners are faced with a number of problems to solve every day of the week. We’ve looked at 8 major sectors to find what matters most.

  • Legislation – Of all the metrics studied, legislation was the biggest concern on average. 30% of Agricultural companies place it as a key concern, with 1 in 5 owners of Transport, Real Estate and Business SME’s viewing it as a key issue.
  • Finance – 16% of manufacturing businesses see cash flow as a large concern, more than any other sector. The same sector also rank highest for worries over ‘access to finance’ with 1 in 10 stating it as a prominent issue.
  • The Economy – Only legislation is a more concerning factor for businesses than the current state of the economy, affecting 20% of Transport and Storage businesses.

Goals vs. Mistakes

By taking a look at existing survey data, Safestore have been able to highlight both the primary objectives for a business owner, and the most common reasons for failure. Some of the highlights from the research can be found below.

Objectives

  • Aiming High – Growth is unsurprisingly one of the most important considerations for over half business owners outranking all other key goals
  • Tech & Structure – Nearly a third of business owners list their primary objectives to be related to IT or to the development of their companies structure
  • Clear Objectives – Less than 1 in 10 business owners place efficiency and innovation at the forefront of their business strategy, prioritising more practical goals such as workforce and finance.

Failures

  • No Idea – The highest proportion of business owners (35%) see the lack of a business model as the reason for failure
  • Money Talks – Over 1 in 5 of surveyed entrepreneurs claim that running out of cash was the reason for their ventures fall down
  • Hot Competition – 11% of those surveyed believed that ‘more able competitors’ were to blame for their companies’ demise, which is notable when a lower proportion value innovation as part of their business model.

Below is a more detailed breakdown of the survey results for goals and failures across business owners.

 
Priorities of CEOs
Growth 53%
IT-Related 32%
Structural Development 31%
Financial 23%
Workforce 21%

 

Reason For Failure
No/Wrong Business Model
35%
Lack of Business Development
28%
Ran out of Cash
21%
No product/market fit
18%
Bad organisation
14%


You can view the full infographic here, which looks at each sector and region in more depth. 

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