vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
I would say no, they don't. Not for everyone at least. I think you'll find many of the most successful business people got to where they are through determination, hard work and learning from their mistakes. I love that last quote too “You don’t have to be great to start but you have to start to be great.”
Why should a bank get into construction specifically? Lots of business opportunities require capital. Conceivably banks could build factories, develop consumer electronics, complete with SpaceX, etc. It's all capital in, profits out, with varying levels of risk and returns. There's nothing special about constructing apartments. The reason banks don't run businesses is because there are plenty of private firms that compete with each other for business. What's the chance that a bank, with all its bureaucracy, can deliver cheaper apartments than an apartment developer? Pretty low in fact, and that's why they would rather lend to an apartment developer rather than building the apartments themselves. Banks are in the business of competing with other banks. The main work they do is to sort out good investments from poor ones. And if they can do that just a bit more efficiently than their competitors, they make big bucks. For example, it might only take a few additional hours to better vet a deal worth millions. Whereas with an apartment building, you wouldn't be able to make that amount of money per hour even if the materials and labor cost you nothing.
&gt;  If a company is making little to no profit, how about they quit blaming their minimum wage workers and find a better business model.   Then put your money where your mouth is and get out there and create some jobs.  From the SBA  &gt;Page 1  Frequently Asked Questions about Small Business  September 2012  Small businesses comprise what share of the U.S. economy?   Small businesses make up:  99.7 percent of U.S. employer firms,   64 percent of net new private-sector jobs,  49.2 percent of private-sector employment,  42.9 percent of private-sector payroll,  46 percent of private-sector output,  43 percent of high-tech employment,  98 percent of firms exporting goods, and  33 percent of exporting value.
In any business keeping your customers happy is one thing, turining them into advocates for you is another. On the other side of this I knew a person who happened to be the owner and CEO of a multimillion dollar business he built from the ground up. He was incredibly loyal every firm he did business with and expected to be treated with respect. As it turns out he also enjoyed working in his garden on weekends. One Saturday, while working in his garden, he realized he needed to do some banking before the bank closed. He quickly runs out to the bank to do his business and is denied service despite having all the proper ID because of the way he looked (dirty from gardening). That following Monday he went in (In his suit this time) and transferred every penny of his business and personal holdings amounting to 10s of Millions to a different firm. Treat cuastomers well and they will generate business for you, treat people poorly and you will lose customers. Lose enough and you are no longer in business.
It isn't always bad. There are cases where it works. Unfortunately these are hard to predict.  There is no magic formula: if you have X years of experience in profession Y that makes it perfect to go into business Z. Even if Y and Z are the same, unless you have the correct type of experience in Z you can quickly get over your head. Ten  years as a waiter doesn't help you to understand the entire restaurant business.  In some cases the key to running a successful business is having years of experience running a business. In other cases the knowledge has to be domain specific. The less complete your knowledge, the more landmines and blind spots that will exist in your operation.  The weaknesses have to be filled by others in your team. But that exposes you to other problems, they can let you down without you knowing it.  The better approach is to say in a few years I want to own a business. What do I need to do to get to that point besides money to buy the business, money to run the business, and money to survive the early years. What knowledge do I need to gain, or team members do I need to recruit.
I've seen things like this happen, in new and old businesses things work fine for the first 5 years then normal maintenance is forgotten, have a depreciation fund ready so it doesn't feel like you are spending any money, that's what that fund is for and you put into it from the beginning, need a $2k equipment, ohh I have $4k saved for this already, it was money intended to be spent on this. But of course some of this is going to depend on the type of business you are running! And since you have provided us no details I can't give an answer for you because all businesses are different, but I feel that these things, refusing to give freedom and authority to other employees, and refusing to spend money when needed are the biggest pitfalls most business owners fall into.
I'm not trying to sound mean here, because my intention is to encourage you to take the leap into entrepreneurship, but yes...your fear is completely irrational.    The reason you see and hear about those mega-lawsuits is because they are sensational and controversial.  They're actually pretty rare, and usually prohibitively costly to file.  No one's going to successfully get an attorney to try and collect on a large amount of amount of money that you don't have.  Most small business lawsuits are a result of either gross negligence on the business owners part (which would be justified) or terrible or misleading service (again justified).  If you're going to do honest business, take responsibility for the work done, and do your due diligence to manage what goes on in your four walls, you'll be fine.    Go for it...assuming you have a good business plan, and know what you're getting into.  Of course.
If you do it on your own, it doesn't mean you'll be able to create a commercially viable product.  It takes a lot of capital to create systems, technology, and business models to help you with your start up.  You need resources such as talent and software applications to help build your business.  These help you compete with established corporations and competitors to differentiate your product from the rest.  It's not easy and so what if VCs own a part of of your business.  That's for insurance reasons when te business fails and assets are needed to counter the investment liability.  You still get control of your start up and the product your offering.
A small business consultant works with clients on strategy, planning and problem solving, and helps clients develop Business consultant  skills and knowledge. These topics range from designing a business model or marketing plan, to determining which marketing techniques to use and how to use them. You'll often help clients learn how to plan and implement projects. A small business consultant gives advice, teaches skills, and brainstorms with the client to produce practical results and enhance strategic thinking.
Let me just say that Argentina didn't fail because of protectionism, it failed because of collectivism and government control of businesses like all familiar communist countries failed. It's actually a good argument against socialism in general against those who say it's superior to communism.
The parent company is likely to own other assets, which can be badly performing. Spinoffs are typically the better performers. There are also other factors, for example certain big funds cannot invest in sectors like tobacco or defense and for conglomerates it makes sense to spin those assets off to attract a wider investor audience.
they can't keep putting out sustaining innovations. they need to tweak their business models to produce innovations that shake-up the market; disruptive innovations. they need to make sure their value propositions focus on the job consumers perform, and find ways to make those jobs simpler and more affordable.
"My company makes books.  It is a start-up going through hard times right now.  It is too soon to say if we are ultimately going to be successful, so we might not be the best example of triumph following adversity.  We certainly can fulfill the ""hard times"" part, though.  Let me know if I can be of any help."
It depends on which of the big4. Some of them have more revenue and profit from consulting than from audit. Specifically, some of the big4 have failed at growing their consulting business to be competitive with the consulting arms of other firms and/or sold off their consulting groups and are in the process of rebuilding.
Ok so what they list as failures are:  1. HP killing off webos and almost getting out of the next to 0 margin pc manufacturing business. This is only a failure if you think WebOS had a chance against apple, google and even blackberry, and if you think selling Yet Another China Built Laptop is a good business model.   2. Netflix raising its prices and trying to kill off its barely profitable(loss-making?) DVD business. Price increase was probably a bad idea, but the DVD thing is a good long term decision since let's be real here, DVD is fucking dead.  3. Killing Flip. Probably a good idea seeing as everyone suddenly had HD capable phones. Yeah, probably a bad idea to buy it in the first place, but at least they're not sunk cost fallacy'ing over it.   And the MBAs were right. Perfect is the enemy of good. Name one fucking ground breaking gadget that wasn't broken as fuck on release. Remember the iPhone 1? That thing was a fucking turd. iPhone 4? Barely capable of taking a phone call. The first Macbook Pros? Shit chipset that had a tendency to overheat and melt. And those are products from the God Emperor of gadgets.   Actually, all you need to know about the author is this:  &gt;I’ve never worked a 9-to-5 job
Only one plan is reliable - be offspring of boss.  It's your failure if you didn't plan sufficiently.  Failure is guaranteed, otherwise.    (understand, I'm assuming you want to be paid a living wage.  the other options already being proposed don't provide that function)
Maybe you missed this part  &gt;by going into a local retailer and forcing them to compete with something they cannot realistically compete against while turning any kind of a reasonable profit.  There won't be any local taxes to pay if the local business isn't around to sell anything to you.
If Walmart violated the law then bring the full force of it down on them.  On the other hand the usual reason the local businesses went bust is because they were less convenient and more expensive.  The people who shopped in that area decided to stop shopping at the local stores and shop at Walmart instead.  Unless you believe everyone is irrational, they would have changed their behaviour for good reasons.
In the US, and I suspect in most of the developed world, one major point of a corporation is limited liability.  The stockholders are not on the hook for liabilities beyond their investment.  If the company does something terrible, or fails economically, it goes bankrupt.  Usually the stockholders have their investment wiped out, but they are guaranteed that they do not have to pay more in to any settlement.
Everything you said deserves about a million more upvotes.  On top of that, I've seen lots of GOOD, solid, could-be-successful funded companies go belly up because of micro-managing or forced hires/fires by their VC, which ripped apart the company, destroyed the product, lost customers, made everyone hate coming to work, etc.  Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory…  Like anything else, you have to be extremely careful and extremely suspicious when you give control over your baby to somebody else. Sadly few would-be founders think of slow-dating, they'll just hop into a shotgun marriage with whoever waves the largest fistfuls of cash.  I wrote about this in re: cofounders, but the same applies to investors: http://unicornfree.com/2011/lets-cofound-a-baby/
Partnerships don’t work out unless you clearly define the roles and relationships, hence why most partnerships fail (I usually cringe when I hear partnerships). Also a background check never hurts (think citizenship ID cards). Having a good lawyer helps as well.  I think demonizing an entire country/ethnicity for the failure of your partnership is misguided, but that’s usually how our thinking defaults to when we’re stressed like this. Being emotional is not a trait of good business acumen. Would it make you feel better if you were being lied to by Brits,Indians,Israelis,Nigerians,etc?   You having lived in China for over 10 years should have taught you that there is a get rich quick mentality over there. Hopefully you didn’t put too much money into this venture. I would definitely look into what they are doing in China. Are they break any laws over there? Is your business in compliance with import/export controls in China &amp; US? Is this business relationship still salvageable or should you just walk away?  Most people are not cut out for starting their own business. You might also need to support your wife in the infant stages of this enterprise or hire someone as her assistant. Looks like you have A LOT of work/discussing/brainstorming/debating with your wife before you even get into it with the partners.
Company was founded as a co-op.  If the company has a loss, you get negative patronage. Basically, it is a paper loss until the company can erase it with profits. However, you would have to pay it off you left the company before it was positive. That's my understanding. The company has only been profitable since I have been here.  If the company were to go bankrupt and didn't have enough assets to pay everyone, first it would pay taxes, then (if there was money) it would pay secured lenders, then unsecured lenders, then preferred shareholders, and finally, in the unlikely event that there was any money left, the workers would get paid back the value of their common stock.
"I appreciate your taking the time to shoot some holes in this oft repeated statistic.  However, I do disagree on some points.  &gt; Nor is there anything wrong with the person then ENDING that ""business"" and moving on... to another (different name, different field) business... or taking a job with some company  There may not be anything shameful about doing that, but that scenario is, indeed, a business failure.  People do not shutter a profitable (successful) business and then go to work for someone else.  I believe a key contributor to the confusion is talking about the self-employed and business owners in the same breath.  Someone who's self-employed basically owns a job.  His income will always be directly proportional to the amount of time spent working and the company does not exist apart from himself.    A business owner, on the other hand, has processes/equipment/staff/IP in place that generates income whether or not she gets out of bed in the morning.  These are different people with different goals and cannot be lumped into the same demographic block."
Andersen’s conviction hastened its demise.  That's not true.  Indicting Arthur Andersen caused its demise and resulted in tens of thousands of people losing their job. Prior to that it was most successful accounting firm in the nation.  Once the firm itself was indicted because of the actions of a few employees, it lost all of its clients because you can't have an indicted firm producing your statements.
Actually, government bail outs are in the socialist/communist section.  What it really amounts to is cronyism though, which is the kind of corruption that caused communism to fail.  It's not just america, it's everywhere.  If it were capitalism fueling it, the government should have let the companies fail, since apparently the population doesn't want to support them enough.
The biggest advantage to small business owners paid in cash is not that it might save the 2 or 3 percent that would go to the credit card company.  The biggest advantage is that they have the opportunity to keep the transaction entirely off the books and pocket the cash without paying income tax or sales tax, especially when no receipt is given, or when it's a service instead of a product being sold, or when it's an approximately-tracked inventory unit going out the door.  Although it's illegal, it's widely done, and it's also often a temptation for employees to try and get away with doing it too.
The point of a chargeback is to force merchants to do the paperwork. Many merchants don't, and are easy targets for chargebacks, even when they have, in fact, provided the good or service. You used a tax prep service. They may have given you poor (technical) advice, but such firms are usually very good about doing the paperwork. That's why you lost.
No reason why you can't keep that business there, and expand in arizona, You just need to find employees willing to do the work, get some insurance, business processes down on paper etc... Think of it like a franchisee... they down own mcdonalds (just as an example) but they have a stable income with their investment...
Small companies could have growth prospects. Large companies may not have that many. So look at ROE of companies by quatile to determine which companies have better growth.
*People clamoring for more and more regulation will always be disappointed because businesses will always find ways to get around it.*  This is only true in America where we have too many retards who believe regulation doesn't work (thus you get broken regulation you basically wished for).  Canada's financial regulatory system (which actually has teeth, unlike their American counterparts) did a magnificent job avoiding the financial meltdown.
Running for-profit business doesn't pressure those involved to make the best product, it pressures them to make the best profit.  Making the best profit pressures those involved to produce the cheapest product that the market won't reject marked at the highest price the market won't reject.  Private companies have the freedom to avoid or limit the effect of that pressure if they choose, and sacrifice some profit for quality and improved customer satisfaction (though many still choose profit).  Public companies, who are eventually beholdent to shareholders who sole goal is profitability, are much less likely to avoid the pressures to increase profits at all costs;  particularly in the age of day traders and CEO merry-go-round, long-term planning is very difficult when short-term profitability is on the line.  A company that made one widget a year for $1 and sold that widget for $10 billion would be a very successful company from the profit standpoint, and would likely have an excellent share price if the business model looked secure for the next year or two.  Competition helps alleviate this morass and pushes for better products and lower prices by upping the bar of what the market will reject over time - increase the available alternatives, and the features/quality/price scale shifts.  The importance of having a level playing field, anti-monopoly laws and ensure that new players can come onto the scene is fundamental to capitalism working - otherwise those who hold monopoly positions will prevent competition from emerging and charge as much as is possible for the cheapest product people will still buy.  This is of particular issue when not buying the product is a threat to one's life or safety (medical care, emergency services, food, etc).
I just wanted to let people know of a strange little way bankruptcy works in society when dealing with individuals and when dealing with businesses.  If I as a person declare bankruptcy, my credit score goes downhill. I find loans have higher interest rates, some people won't lend the amounts I want, and I have to pay more up front.  If as a business I declare bankruptcy, my individual credit score (not business) does not suffer AT ALL. My business likely will have a harder time getting loans, that is unless someone buys me out or I collapse the business and start a new business, maybe even the exact same business with the same clients. I personally, am not held accountable for anything (unless I was a sole proprietor of course and didn't incorporate).  That to me, is the major problem. Corporations mean never having to say you're sorry. No matter how high up you are, you are never individually accountable for your actions.  In fact, I highly suggest anyone considering bankruptcy simply form a corporation, dump their debt assets into it, and then have the corporation declare bankruptcy.  Viola, instant clean credit score and all your debts are paid.  Just watch out for [vicarious liability :p](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicarious_liability)
From a quick google, apparently 5% of government contracts need to go to women- or minority-owned small businesses, with another 18% going to small businesses more generally.   If your company was bumped, it was b/c they were on the bubble in terms of quality/price, and inevitably the only reason were able to contract in years prior was b/c of the rules discriminating against large businesses over small businesses.  The more concerning take away in all of this, is how on earth is it a struggle to hit the 5% target without any sort of affirmative action intervention.  A bit of an eye-opener on the extent of systemic racism / inequality of opportunity that exists today.  We really should be doing more to support minority owned businesses, and more importantly addressing the apparently inequity in opportunity in our business culture.
Agreed.  But this isn't the fault of business.  You could argue that entrepreneurs are failing to some extent in figuring out how to take advantage of an overly-abundant but still somewhat valuable resource (low skilled labor).  However, with complex work rules, and laws that make it illegal to offer workers wages commensurate to their skill level, I think it the problem of unemployment is can be more correctly blamed on government.  Lack of education/skill translates to lower wages.  Having an artificial cut-off, making it illegal to hire low-skilled workers makes increased unemployment of low skilled workers inevitable.
If the business owner doesn't want you to pay him directly, the only reason I can think of is breaking a law. It can be because the business doesn't legally exists, or because the barber wants to evade taxes, or because he doesn't pay his child support or doesn't want his income to be apparent to his debtors in a bankruptcy proceedings. Either way, stinks.
"Fail? What is the standard? If you include the base case of keeping your money under a mattress, then you only have to earn a $1 over your lifetime of investing to not fail. What about making more by investing when compared to keeping money in a checking or savings account? How could 90% of investors fail to achieve these standards? Update: with the hint from the OP to google ""90% investors lose their money"" it is clear that ""experts"" on complex trading systems are claiming that the 90% of the people that try similar systems, fail to make money. Therefore try their system, for a fee. The statements are being made by people who have what should be an obvious bias."
If this is OPs outlook on starting something new, I'd say it's failed before it started. You'll never survive the toughness of selling people on new ideas if this is the mindset before the first pilot was tested. You have to lead people through it, you don't just create and walk away with success.   OP - not to be a prick - but you don't have it. You might later at some point or maybe this will motivate you to prove me wrong. But you quit before you even started. This particular idea is DOA