One in three businesses lives to be 5. Here is how to be a winner.
三家企業(yè)中只有一家企業(yè)能存在五年，怎樣在競爭中成為贏家？
Large， multinational corporations may be the companies whose ups and downs seize headlines. But to a far greater extent than most Americans realize， the economy's vitality depends on the fortunes of tiny shops and restaurants， neighborhood services and factories. Small businesses， defined as those with fewer than 100 workers， now employ nearly 60 percent of the work force and are expected to generate half of all new jobs between now and the year 2000. Some 1.2 million small firms have opened their doors over the past six years or economic growth and 1989 will see an additional 200，000 entrepreneurs striking off on their own.
大型的跨國公司，其興衰沉浮常是報刊搶登的頭版重要新聞的公司。但大部分美國人還遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)沒能認(rèn)識到，經(jīng)濟的活力都取決于小商店、小餐館、街道服務(wù)業(yè)和工廠的興衰。小企業(yè)一般定義為工人人數(shù)不足100人的企業(yè)，而現(xiàn)在的小企業(yè)雇傭了將近全部勞動力的60%，并預(yù)期從現(xiàn)在起到2000年將提供所有新就業(yè)機會中一半的工作崗位。在過去經(jīng)濟發(fā)展的6年里，大約開辦了120萬家小企業(yè)，在1989年還將有另外20萬名企業(yè)家輕易地獨立開業(yè)。
Too many of these pioneers， however， will blaze ahead unprepared. Idealists will overestimate the clamor for their products of fail to factor in the competition. Nearly everyone will underestimate， often fatally， the capital that success requires. Midcareer executives， forced by a takeover or restructuring to quit the corporation and find another way to support themselves， may savor the idea of being their own boss but may forget that entrepreneurs must also， at least for a while， be bookkeeper and receptionist， too. According to Small Business Administration data， 24 of every 100 businesses starting out today are likely at have disappeared in two years， and 27 more will have shut their doors four years from now. By 1995，more than 60 of those 100 start-ups will have folded. A new study of 3，000 small businesses， sponsored by American. Express and the National Federation of Independent Business， suggests slightly better odds： Three years after start-up， 77 percent of the companies surveyed were still alive. Most credited their success in large part to having picked a business they already were comfortable in. Eighty percent had worked with the same product or service in their last jobs.
然而，這些開拓者中許許多多人在無準(zhǔn)備之下，便熱情地干起來。理想主義者將過高地估計爭購他們產(chǎn)品的呼聲，或者將在競爭中經(jīng)銷失敗。幾乎每個人都過低估計到成功所需要的資本，這常常是致命的。中層管理人員由于公司兼并或改組的原因，被迫辭去公司里的工作去另謀出路時，可能會欣賞自己做老板的想法，但是他們可能忘記企業(yè)家至少也要做一段時間的記帳員和接待員。根據(jù)小企業(yè)管理局的統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)，今天開業(yè)的100家小企業(yè)中有24家可能在2年內(nèi)倒閉。還有大約有27家從現(xiàn)在起將在4年內(nèi)破產(chǎn)，1995年那100家新開張的企業(yè)中有60多家將會倒閉。由美國運通公司和美國獨立商行聯(lián)合會主辦的對3000家小企業(yè)的一項新研究顯示結(jié)果稍為樂觀：在企業(yè)開業(yè)后的3年內(nèi)，被調(diào)查的公司中有77%一直經(jīng)營良好。大部分人把他們的成功在很大程度上歸功于他們選擇了適合于自己的行業(yè)。80%的人在過去工作中曾從事過同樣的商品或服務(wù)工作。
Thinking through an enterprise before the launch is obviously critical. But many entrepreneurs forget that a firm's health in its infancy many be little indication of how well it will age. You must tenderly monitor its pulse. In their zeal to expand， small business owners often ignore early warning signs of a stagnant market or of decaying profitablility. They hopefully pour more and more money into the enterprise， preferring not to acknowledge eroding profit margins that mean the marked for their ingenious service or product has evaporated， or that they must cut the payroll or vacate their lavish offices. Only when the financial well runs dry do they see the seriousness of the illness， and by then the patient is usually too far gone to save.
在開辦一個新企業(yè)之前，對它的發(fā)展前景有充分的考慮顯然是至關(guān)重要的。但是許多企業(yè)家忘記了企業(yè)在初期的健康狀況可能顯示不出企業(yè)后期的成長過程。你必須小心監(jiān)測它的脈搏。小企業(yè)主在熱切擴大經(jīng)營中常忽視市場蕭條或效益下降的早期警告信號。他們希望將愈來愈多的錢投入企業(yè)，他們承認(rèn)利潤正在降低，不愿承認(rèn)他們的服務(wù)或產(chǎn)品的市場已經(jīng)萎縮，也不原承認(rèn)他們必須削減工人工資或者搬出他們豪華的辦公室。只有當(dāng)財源枯竭時，他們才認(rèn)識到他們的企業(yè)已奄奄一息，面臨倒閉。到那時企業(yè)已病入膏肓，不可救要。
Frequent checks of your firm's vital signs will also guide you to a sensible rate of growth. To snatch opportunity， you must spot the signals that it is time to conquer new markets， add products or perhaps franchise your hot idea.
對企業(yè)的重要癥狀經(jīng)常檢查可使企業(yè)保持適宜的發(fā)展速度。要抓住機會，你必須及時瞄準(zhǔn)征服新市場的信號，增加產(chǎn)量或者想出你的特棒的點子。
三家企業(yè)中只有一家企業(yè)能存在五年，怎樣在競爭中成為贏家？
Large， multinational corporations may be the companies whose ups and downs seize headlines. But to a far greater extent than most Americans realize， the economy's vitality depends on the fortunes of tiny shops and restaurants， neighborhood services and factories. Small businesses， defined as those with fewer than 100 workers， now employ nearly 60 percent of the work force and are expected to generate half of all new jobs between now and the year 2000. Some 1.2 million small firms have opened their doors over the past six years or economic growth and 1989 will see an additional 200，000 entrepreneurs striking off on their own.
大型的跨國公司，其興衰沉浮常是報刊搶登的頭版重要新聞的公司。但大部分美國人還遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)沒能認(rèn)識到，經(jīng)濟的活力都取決于小商店、小餐館、街道服務(wù)業(yè)和工廠的興衰。小企業(yè)一般定義為工人人數(shù)不足100人的企業(yè)，而現(xiàn)在的小企業(yè)雇傭了將近全部勞動力的60%，并預(yù)期從現(xiàn)在起到2000年將提供所有新就業(yè)機會中一半的工作崗位。在過去經(jīng)濟發(fā)展的6年里，大約開辦了120萬家小企業(yè)，在1989年還將有另外20萬名企業(yè)家輕易地獨立開業(yè)。
Too many of these pioneers， however， will blaze ahead unprepared. Idealists will overestimate the clamor for their products of fail to factor in the competition. Nearly everyone will underestimate， often fatally， the capital that success requires. Midcareer executives， forced by a takeover or restructuring to quit the corporation and find another way to support themselves， may savor the idea of being their own boss but may forget that entrepreneurs must also， at least for a while， be bookkeeper and receptionist， too. According to Small Business Administration data， 24 of every 100 businesses starting out today are likely at have disappeared in two years， and 27 more will have shut their doors four years from now. By 1995，more than 60 of those 100 start-ups will have folded. A new study of 3，000 small businesses， sponsored by American. Express and the National Federation of Independent Business， suggests slightly better odds： Three years after start-up， 77 percent of the companies surveyed were still alive. Most credited their success in large part to having picked a business they already were comfortable in. Eighty percent had worked with the same product or service in their last jobs.
然而，這些開拓者中許許多多人在無準(zhǔn)備之下，便熱情地干起來。理想主義者將過高地估計爭購他們產(chǎn)品的呼聲，或者將在競爭中經(jīng)銷失敗。幾乎每個人都過低估計到成功所需要的資本，這常常是致命的。中層管理人員由于公司兼并或改組的原因，被迫辭去公司里的工作去另謀出路時，可能會欣賞自己做老板的想法，但是他們可能忘記企業(yè)家至少也要做一段時間的記帳員和接待員。根據(jù)小企業(yè)管理局的統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)，今天開業(yè)的100家小企業(yè)中有24家可能在2年內(nèi)倒閉。還有大約有27家從現(xiàn)在起將在4年內(nèi)破產(chǎn)，1995年那100家新開張的企業(yè)中有60多家將會倒閉。由美國運通公司和美國獨立商行聯(lián)合會主辦的對3000家小企業(yè)的一項新研究顯示結(jié)果稍為樂觀：在企業(yè)開業(yè)后的3年內(nèi)，被調(diào)查的公司中有77%一直經(jīng)營良好。大部分人把他們的成功在很大程度上歸功于他們選擇了適合于自己的行業(yè)。80%的人在過去工作中曾從事過同樣的商品或服務(wù)工作。
Thinking through an enterprise before the launch is obviously critical. But many entrepreneurs forget that a firm's health in its infancy many be little indication of how well it will age. You must tenderly monitor its pulse. In their zeal to expand， small business owners often ignore early warning signs of a stagnant market or of decaying profitablility. They hopefully pour more and more money into the enterprise， preferring not to acknowledge eroding profit margins that mean the marked for their ingenious service or product has evaporated， or that they must cut the payroll or vacate their lavish offices. Only when the financial well runs dry do they see the seriousness of the illness， and by then the patient is usually too far gone to save.
在開辦一個新企業(yè)之前，對它的發(fā)展前景有充分的考慮顯然是至關(guān)重要的。但是許多企業(yè)家忘記了企業(yè)在初期的健康狀況可能顯示不出企業(yè)后期的成長過程。你必須小心監(jiān)測它的脈搏。小企業(yè)主在熱切擴大經(jīng)營中常忽視市場蕭條或效益下降的早期警告信號。他們希望將愈來愈多的錢投入企業(yè)，他們承認(rèn)利潤正在降低，不愿承認(rèn)他們的服務(wù)或產(chǎn)品的市場已經(jīng)萎縮，也不原承認(rèn)他們必須削減工人工資或者搬出他們豪華的辦公室。只有當(dāng)財源枯竭時，他們才認(rèn)識到他們的企業(yè)已奄奄一息，面臨倒閉。到那時企業(yè)已病入膏肓，不可救要。
Frequent checks of your firm's vital signs will also guide you to a sensible rate of growth. To snatch opportunity， you must spot the signals that it is time to conquer new markets， add products or perhaps franchise your hot idea.
對企業(yè)的重要癥狀經(jīng)常檢查可使企業(yè)保持適宜的發(fā)展速度。要抓住機會，你必須及時瞄準(zhǔn)征服新市場的信號，增加產(chǎn)量或者想出你的特棒的點子。