How risky is starting a small business?

Son Ahlers: There is no risk at all IF you know your market, have a marketing consultant and quality.

Alise Rutgers: There is always a risk for failure, regardless of how prepared you are. Four out of five new small businesses are no longer around after 5 years - basically an 80% failure rate. While there are steps you can take to increase the odds you are in that 20% of successes, there are no steps you can take to guarantee you are in the 20%.