• Submittedto

Dr.sabari Rajan
Faculty msn

Submitted by
Sreejith.T
S4 mba
Rollno.51
What Causes Small Businesses to
Fail?
• The short answer is, regardless of the
industry, failure is the result of either the lack
of management skills or lack of proper
capitalization or both.
 Common Causes of Failure

• Choosing a business that isn't very profitable

• Inadequate cash reserves

• Failure to clearly define and understand the

market, customers, and customers' buying
habits
• Failure to price your product or service
correctly

• Failure to adequately anticipate cash flow

• Failure to anticipate or react to competition,

technology, or other changes in the
marketplace
• Overdependence on a single customer

• Uncontrolled growth

• Personal use of business funds

• Putting up with inadequate management.

• Over-investment in fixed assets

• Poor credit arrangements

• While poor management is cited most
frequently as the reason businesses fail,
inadequate or ill-timed financing is a close
second.
• Insufficient capital (money)
• Poor location
• Poor inventory management
Key Success Factors of Small Business

• "where preparation and opportunity meet."

• 1. Sell each unit at a profit

• 2. Continue to reduce overhead costs.

• 3. Develop new products while maintaining

the high quality of existing products.
• 4. Find and retain high-value customers

• 5. Create and maintain the highest level of

customer satisfaction. 
 From campus to the village

• To take an idea from the drawing board— to

the market takes some doing.
• To take an idea from the classrooms of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),
Stanford and Virginia University and to turn
them into ideas that work commercially in
rural India extraordinary.
• Retailers deep in rural Rajasthan can now
order for products with an SMS and be
assured of delivery in 36 hours.
• PROJECT IDEA: Initial idea was to provide Wi-Fi
services from kiosks in remote rural areas. Project
now re-modelled as a mobile-enabled supply chain
mechanism.
• UNIVERSITY: MIT
• AWARD: The idea made it to the semi-finals of the
MIT $50K entrepreneurship competition.
• FUNDING: Raised $3.5 million in venture funding
from institutions and angel investors.
• FUTURE PLANS: To expand through rural Rajasthan
and be present in 3-4 states in the next three years.
• Promethean Power's prototype of a chilling
centre is helping farmers to boost milk supply
by reducing spoilage
• FOUNDERS:Sorin Grama and Sam White.
• PROJECT IDEA: Solar-powered refrigeration system
for commercial cold-storage applications.
• AWARD: Runner's up at MIT's $100K
entrepreneurship competition.
• FUNDING: Initially got $10,000, then raised $1
million in venture funding for building and testing of
prototype.
• FUTURE PLANS: Spread across India and to the
remote corners of rural India which are off grid.
 Lighting up Countless Lives
• Not-so-happy memories of a kerosene lamp
inspire an entrepreneur to design a safer and
brighter alternative.
• FOUNDERS: Sam Goldman, Ned Tozun, Xianyi Wu,
and Erica Estrada.
• PROJECT IDEA: LED lanterns for rural India to
replace hazardous kerosene lamps.
• UNIVERSITY: Institute of Design at Stanford
University.
• AWARD: Won Draper Fisher Jurvetson Venture
Challenge and the Stanford University Social E-
Challenge in 2007.
• FUNDING: Initially won $275,000 in prize money. So
far raised $6.6 million from various VC funds.
• FUTURE PLANS: D.light has sold 1 lakh solar lamps
to villagers in India, Africa and Latin America and
expects to sell 20 lakh by 2020