It's a commonly quoted statistic: 80% of all small businesses will fail within the first five years of running. In fact, in Internet marketing, this figure can be as high as 95%. Yes, it's a commonly quoted statistic but for some reason, people are not very good at saying exactly why this happens. And it happens to what seems like nearly all newborn businesses.

It may be simply due to the usual factors i.e. inadequate time and energy investment in advertising, poor dedication, lack of perseverance, no focus, ambitiously low goal setting and so on.

But the sadder news is that even with full and enthusiastic application of none of the above, many entrepreneurs may be headed slowly and steadily towards what can only be described as business suicide.

The number one reason why several businesses fail is lack of good quality, regular, astounding and highly relevant advice. It's that simple.

Running a business successfully is all about making decisions on a daily basis. The decisions that we make depend on a number of things including:

1. Past experiences and

2. Factual knowledge.

A new business owner may have relatively little or no experience.

No one individual can know all the facts.

The solution then becomes this: Create a skilled team. Put a skilled team together and not only would you have a combined increase in experience, but also your level of factual knowledge as an individual becomes somewhat less relevant.

To identify who should be in your team, you need to break-down decision making into specific areas. Try doing it like this:

If it is a legal problem, don't try to solve it yourself. Seek advice from your lawyer/solicitor first.

If it is a complex tax issue, speak to your local tax office. Contact the IRS or Inland Revenue as appropriate.

If you're getting severe accounting headaches, don't cut corners. Contact your accountant.

If you are having problems with finance, don't make the decision to borrow form lender X. Seek advice first. Would your bank manager have any good ideas or suggestions?

When faced with challenges, what you want is NOT to make decisions straightaway. What you want is advice. Good advice and lots of it. Then and only then can you decide before committing yourself to a specific plan of action.

Next, and probably the most overlooked, is this: Do you know someone who is experienced in the same or similar line of business as you? Are they active? Are they successful? If you can answer yes to all of these questions about this person, then make them your best friend immediately. Put them somewhere near the top of your Christmas card list (If you send such cards).

Try not to think of them as a business rival or competitor but think of them more as a mentor. Of course, it helps if they are approachable and keen to share their knowledge, tips and experience with keen and enthusiastic fellow business people.

In summary, remember this fact: No one ever became extremely successful all on his or her own. They got help and advice from lots of other people. Usually from people who are experts in their own respective fields.

Ugo works and trains as an Orthopaedic Surgeon. He also set up and runs several successful Internet Businesses including http://www.businessomatic.com a resource and guide for any aspiring Entrepreneur.

Copyright Ugo Okonkwo http://www.businessomatic.com/. Please reprint or reproduce exactly as is together with resource box.