If you look, see, hear and think you will learn.

Sounds obvious but how many do it?

I am a self confessed infoholic. My addiction is information on topics that interest me; world affairs/politics, business and sport. I am interested in ‘cause and effect' so net result is I read a lot.

Not just novels like most people but what interests me.

It's amazing what you see, what it means and what you learn. Recently I came across two short articles in same journal on facing pages and they said so much about why people fail in business and yet, do people ever learn?

One article gave statistics on businesses failing from cash flow problems and other was about a business that went down because it's single largest customer placed it's business elswhere.

In summary it goes like this; a survey revealed that in UK 100,000 businesses fail each year because their owners fail to do any financial planning.

25% of firms never set any financial targets.

35% have never set aside funds for employee development.

20% admitted to beginning to plan when it was too late.

50% blamed this on not having enough time.

They were surprised to learn that these causes of failure were greater than adverse trading conditions.

The failed business was a very cost sensitive business that did sub contract machining.

Established 49 years it employed 12 people. It was dropped by it's single biggest customer and ran out of cash.

The owner has now re started as a ‘sole trader' doing same subcontract machining and ‘working all hours' to survive.

He says he has learned his lesson and will not contract for work from businesses in sector of company that dropped him. In effect he is back to square one.