02/26/2025
We’ve all seen the numbers—20% of small businesses don’t make it past the first year, 30% don’t make it to year two, 50% are gone in five, and 70% won’t see their tenth anniversary.
But why do businesses keep failing years into the process? Shouldn’t experience, momentum, and lessons learned make survival more likely?
One of the biggest reasons isn’t a lack of hard work or passion. It’s something far more subtle.
Somewhere along the way, many business owners and executives shift from leading to managing. They get consumed by the day-to-day—putting out fires, keeping the wheels turning, making sure everything and everyone stays afloat. And in that constant motion, something critical gets lost: the vision that started it all.
Not intentionally. Not because they don’t care. But because the business demands so much right now that there’s no time left for what’s next.
That’s how businesses—great businesses—lose their way.
If this sounds familiar, it’s not a criticism. It’s a pattern. A pattern that struggling businesses fall into more often than their thriving counterparts. A pattern that, left unchecked, can turn into burnout, stagnation, or worse.
So, how do you break it?
You MAKE time to step back. To reconnect with your vision, assess where you are now, and adjust course if needed. We call it a VASE session:
✅ Vision – Revisit why you started. Where are you going?
✅ Analyze – Look at your current reality. Are you still aligned?
✅ Strategize – Is your plan still the right one, or does it need refining?
✅ Execute – Keep building, with momentum and clarity.
This isn’t about adding more to your plate—it’s about making sure what’s on your plate is still leading you where you want to go.
Success isn’t just about avoiding failure; it’s about staying aligned with what makes your business worth running in the first place.
Don’t let the vision that built your business fade into the background. Keep it front and center—because without it, the future you’re working so hard for might never arrive.
