Deterrents?

We all know that the statistics say:

"8 out of 10 new business fail within the first three years"

Walk down the aisle of any book store and there are rows and rows of books on how to run your own business, how to succeed, how to manage your funds, how to manage your staff etc etc... there is also the trusty "Small Business for Dummies" which was googled and found here Will we read this? We highly doubt it. Do we think it will provide some much needed advice and shed some light on those business-y type questions? hrm maybe. Will we lose sleep over not purchasing this or similar books. I don't think so. Retailing at $39.95 you can obtain the same useful information if not better for free from the World Wide Web, some great examples include:

www.business.gov.au
www.ato.gov.au
www.abs.gov.au
www.smallbiz.nsw.gov.au

So in trying to remain positive and optimistic about starting out, we can't help but also be realistic about how our first day/week/month/year will be even if that is bordering on being negative!

A recent feature article in SMH's Good Living titled "Hard Slog Cafe" will better explain our concerns/experiences to date. Some quotable quotes from the article on starting up a cafe/restaurant include:

"Our first couple of weekends, we didn't have a single customer come in on a Sunday. Silent Sundays, we'd call them,"

"Then you get a long weekend and everyone leaves town and you have an empty restaurant. It's no wonder 25 per cent fail if the success of the venue relies on so many factors being aligned."

"They don't even consider the legals, accounting, staffing, even bothering to research the right locations. They think it's going to be easy but it's often 16 hours a day, seven days a week. It's damn hard work."

"Just because you cook a good barbecue at home is no sign you can run a restaurant,"

"People told me, 'Don't expect to make any money in the first 12 months.'

So after all that has been said, is it enough to deter us away? Naahh.