{"id":2470,"date":"2014-12-28T09:09:12","date_gmt":"2014-12-28T14:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/?p=2470"},"modified":"2014-12-28T09:09:12","modified_gmt":"2014-12-28T14:09:12","slug":"warning-your-business-is-about-to-fail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/?p=2470","title":{"rendered":"Warning: Your Business is About to Fail"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TAA_R2_EDIT-CS3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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We all know that startup businesses have high failure rates. Just how high is open to debate but this graphic<\/a>, showing them\u00a0by industry,\u00a0is worth a look. Trust holds\u00a0the key\u00a0to\u00a0long-term business success and profitability<\/a>, yet it remains the\u00a0most frequently ignored business strategy. Without trust as a foundational element, the\u00a0chances for long-term business survival are\u00a0little to none.<\/p>\n

Yesterday someone asked me to enumerate, from a \u201ctrust\u201d perspective, ten sure-fire business\u00a0failure warning signs. I\u2019ll bet several are present in your organization.<\/p>\n

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  1. Trust is taken for granted or viewed as a soft skill. There is no Chief Trust Officer<\/strong> (not to be confused with ethics or compliance. Trust is voluntary while compliance is regulated.)<\/li>\n
  2. Your\u00a0corporate credo<\/strong> or core values<\/strong> are nonexistent, or the ones in place are simply \u201cwords\u201d tossed up on a website.<\/li>\n
  3. Goals<\/strong> have yet to be defined, shared or agreed upon. Nor has a course been plotted with a one, three and five-year plan.<\/li>\n
  4. Leadership is focused on survival and short-term profitability<\/strong> only, instead of a unique corporate value proposition and the customer.<\/li>\n
  5. The \u201cleader\u201d lacks leadership skills<\/strong>. Worse yet, he is a total jerk and everyone knows it but him.<\/li>\n
  6. There is not a single woman<\/strong> in sight on the executive leadership team.<\/li>\n
  7. Everyone is a boss and no one is held accountable<\/strong>, resulting in a lack of consistency<\/strong> and a great deal\u00a0of finger-pointing.<\/li>\n
  8. Board members<\/strong> are \u201cYes men\u201d for the CEO, and \u201cyes\u201d they are all men.<\/li>\n
  9. There is lots of talk and little action<\/strong>, and everyone is always \u201cvery tired\u201d from all the “hard” work.<\/li>\n
  10. A well-defined hiring strategy<\/strong> has not been implemented resulting in misalignment and inefficient staffing.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    How many of these are present in your startup? Each one is an indicator that your business will fail.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    We\u00a0have published a brand-new\u00a02015 poster<\/a>\u00a0listing 52 weekly actions you can take to build trust and secure and ensure long-term business success, drawing on expert advice<\/a> from around the world.\u00a0A donation of $10.00 (minimum $5.00)\u00a0might hold the key to your long-term business success. Make the investment for the good of your organization and all your stakeholders. See you in 18 months!<\/p>\n

    Want to learn more about building organizational trust? Our award-winning 3-book TRUST Inc. series that\u00a0can be ordered\u00a0here<\/a>,<\/p>\n

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    Barbara Brooks Kimmel<\/strong>\u00a0is the Executive Director of\u00a0<\/span>Trust Across America-Trust Around the World<\/a>\u00a0whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She is also the editor of the award winning\u00a0<\/span>TRUST INC.<\/a>\u00a0book series and the Executive Editor of\u00a0<\/span>TRUST! Magazine<\/a>. In 2012 Barbara was named \u201cOne of 25 Women Changing the World\u201d by Good Business International.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Copyright 2014 Next Decade, Inc.<\/p>\n

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