It is this effort at mitigating all critical risks that gives the entrepreneur a valid sense of confidence regarding starting a venture and sticking to the task of exploiting the opportunity for which the venture was launched.

The reason why the 99% failure statistic carries weight is because readers DO NOT question what portion of the 99% resulted in lessons learned that were NOT repeated by the same persistent entrepreneurs, who subsequently launched a new venture that DID NOT fail.

How many projects fail in large business? Yet they represent lessons learned that staff workers do not repeat (if they want to stay employed), while subsequently attempting to execute refined projects that reach success. Do we say that 99% of large businesses fail because most of these early project attempts failed? Of course not!

The mass media is biased in favor of big business.

Let us see the whole picture. Let us see the results of lessons learned. A successful entrepreneur is one who sees each business venture as a project. Some of these projects reach successful completion. Some do not. But overall it is the sequence of projects which makes THE business for the entrepreneur and not only ONE single venture out of many try outs, because a true entrepreneur can’t help be always…enterprising.

The authors of my textbook pointed out that:
* Failures included those that closed because the owner died or retired
* Failures included those that changed their name or location
* Failures included those that changed ownership

I doubt that the numbers have changed that much in 20 years. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0030225930/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller= is a newer version of the book.

I don’t think most people realize that the magazine “1,000″ companies also fail, or that those big companies have cut their domestic employment year after year, probably dating back to the mid-1970s.

Think about it: if you’re the CEO of a big company, the way to get a bonus is to “restructure”, laying off a few thousand US workers, and possibly replacing them with overseas workers. This sparks an uptick in stock prices, triggering your bonus. After a few years, the price starts to decline because of the damage to the company’s productive capacity, so you sell out to a buyout group that closes some factories, lays off some workers, and cuts benefits to enable debt repayment. Once this works, they then go public and do it over. The only consistent thing about all parts of the cycle is lower employment numbers.

Walt Hucks (@lnxwalt on Identica and Twitter)

Even though the 99% statistic is not true, there still is a risk – no one would deny that. However, there are possibilities to minimize this risk – for example by starting “a low cost internet business” as Steven has suggested – or by buying a franchise.

The experience gained from pilot units run by the franchisor as well as from other franchised outlets reduces the risk of failure in comparison to running a sole proprietorship. Franchisees are not starting from scratch but buying into a potentially established business, thanks to a brand that is already known on the market. The franchisor supplies his know-how and the business system, so that management is simplified and methodology has already proven successful. Moreover, communication and marketing potential is far superior to resources available to an individual acting independently and cost less.

Steven has rightly pointed out that “If someone has already taken your idea, don’t let that stop you”. I would add this: Instead, why don’t you use this person’s know-how and make his business yours?! Together you are stronger and the market is not only “probably big enough for the both of you”, but it might even need the both of you!