Small companies ... already have two strikes against them. Of the seven hundred thousand new businesses started this year, only thirty-five thousand (or one in twenty) will be around five years from now. And the primary reason for a small company's failure is trying to do too many things at once. If you do one thing, and do it well, you can build a reputation that almost guarantees success in the long term. (Unfortunately, you can also starve in the short term, which is why capital is the crucial component of any start-up.)