TheFortune8
7th April 2009, 13:27
Are IFAs and accountants ever the primary reason for business failure?
I've been asked to put together a short presentation as a hook to attract local accountants and IFAs to a networking event. It's a bit of a challenge as I'm neither an accountant nor an IFA!
The theme needs to be Credit Crunch related and I'm thinking of calling it Biz Crash Investigations. It will hopefully provide insights into why businesses fail by comparing "Biz Crashes" with Air Crashes.
What are your thoughts on this as a way to engage professionals in finance, stimulate conversation and attract people to a networking event at which we'll offer solutions to business problems and provide equity finance to turnaround failing businesses to prevent a biz crash?
My internet research tells me that in the case of air crashes, approx
50% of the time pilot error is the primary cause
23% of the time it's maintenance or mechanical failure
weather is the primary cause in 10% of cases
sabotage accounts for 5% of crashes (that high???)
for Air Traffic Control the figure is 5%
Misc/other 7%
If we compare
the pilot to the entrepreneur or business owner
maintenance/mechanical failure to operations - logistics, sales, marketing
the weather to the prevailing economic climate
sabotage to devious competitiors or disgruntled employees
Air Traffic Control to expert financial advisors and accountants
then ...
would it be fair to conclude that in the case of business failure, financial advisors and accountants are occasionally the primary cause of a "biz crash"?
If so, would the figure be as high as 5% or maybe higher?
With the benefit of your professional "radar" how often do you need to warn business owners that they are on a collision course and that unless they make immediate changes to their flight/business plan, they will crash?
Is this analogy a little bit too provocative for a networking event do you think - we want to make friends after all, not cause an argument!
I've been asked to put together a short presentation as a hook to attract local accountants and IFAs to a networking event. It's a bit of a challenge as I'm neither an accountant nor an IFA!
The theme needs to be Credit Crunch related and I'm thinking of calling it Biz Crash Investigations. It will hopefully provide insights into why businesses fail by comparing "Biz Crashes" with Air Crashes.
What are your thoughts on this as a way to engage professionals in finance, stimulate conversation and attract people to a networking event at which we'll offer solutions to business problems and provide equity finance to turnaround failing businesses to prevent a biz crash?
My internet research tells me that in the case of air crashes, approx
50% of the time pilot error is the primary cause
23% of the time it's maintenance or mechanical failure
weather is the primary cause in 10% of cases
sabotage accounts for 5% of crashes (that high???)
for Air Traffic Control the figure is 5%
Misc/other 7%
If we compare
the pilot to the entrepreneur or business owner
maintenance/mechanical failure to operations - logistics, sales, marketing
the weather to the prevailing economic climate
sabotage to devious competitiors or disgruntled employees
Air Traffic Control to expert financial advisors and accountants
then ...
would it be fair to conclude that in the case of business failure, financial advisors and accountants are occasionally the primary cause of a "biz crash"?
If so, would the figure be as high as 5% or maybe higher?
With the benefit of your professional "radar" how often do you need to warn business owners that they are on a collision course and that unless they make immediate changes to their flight/business plan, they will crash?
Is this analogy a little bit too provocative for a networking event do you think - we want to make friends after all, not cause an argument!