Businesses fail for all sorts of reasons and it is important to understand these reasons so that you can stay away from them when starting your own business. The chart to the right shows the top reasons startups fail, keep in mind a lot of the reasons overlap causing the percentages not to add up which is another good thing to point out because with more causes of failure there is less chance for success. The top two reasons accounting for the majority cause are as bad as they are because they can lead to more and more failure. Having no market need can relate to poor product, bad location, and no investors. when starting your business you need to determine if the product or service you want to sell will fit with the market you are in. if you decide to sell winter gear in places were the climate is hot majority of the year your market will have no need for your product and you will fail. But if you start selling winter gear up in the mountains near ski resorts you will have a lot better market to work with and your chances of success will skyrocket. The second main cause, running out of cash is exactly what it sounds like and we talked about it earlier in our Overcoming Risks page. When a business runs out of cash they will not be able to afford upkeep costs that are crucial in keeping the business alive. There are ways such as business loans and investors to help with this problem but often times a already failing business will have trouble finding these  because no one will want to invest in a declining business.