Businesses that Always Fail? 7 Businesses with Shockingly High Failure Rates [Backed by Data] 

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High Failure rates/ Low Success rate 1)Gyms 2)ATMs 3)Dry Cleaners 4)Hotels 5)Amazon FBA (fulfilled by Amazon) 6)Retail Stores Graph @ 9:28 7)Restaurants High Success rates/Low Failure rates 8)Trucking 9)Senior Care Centers 10)Real Estate (Rental Properties) 11)Laundromat Watch the video and make your own timestamps if you want them.

Wife used to own a pick up dry cleaning store which means she jobbed out the actual dry cleaning. Still a tough gig at 70+ hr weeks and 6 days a week. She did good though. She thrived while others went under because she understood that in an overcrowded, perfectly competitive market what set her apart from everyone else was customer service. AND we made sure it looked as little as a typical dry cleaner as possible. She sold it and retired just before office dress codes started to get more casual so she went out on a high note. The guy who bought it changed a ton of stuff and didn't provide the same level of customer service and then complained that he was losing business. He didn't last two years.

Amazon FBA - all of these things you mentioned literally happened to me. I made morale patches. I got lucky and made $100k+ profit (after expenses and amazon fees) in 6 months off of 1 patch design alone. Lots of luck. Quickly became a race to the bottom as clones and "black hat" tactics from (assumably) Chinese sellers started. They did crazy stuff like buy up all of your inventory then cancel the sale. This locks your inventory for a couple of weeks. It was a fun and crazy and heartbreaking experience. Learned a lot. Don't recommend full time. Great video as always!

Have been in the senior care industry for as a founder and operator of a top 100 senior care provider I must offer that this is a grueling highly labor intensive business that is currently in distress due to huge labor cost increases, shortage of labor, increasing regulations, reduced capacity to charge customers for these increasing costs, and unreasonable expectations of families which results in distress to the staff and high turnover. Common turnover rates range from 80 to 150%. Yes, there is inevitable increasing demand, but not a commensurate increase in capacity to for customers pay, and decreasing availability of labor which increases cost. The great people who serve our elderly 24 hours of every day are under appreciated in by a selfish culture, that also contributes to the difficulty of this industry.

Start a food truck before you own a restaurant

It constantly amazes me how many people want to start restaurants. the dream business, they always want to start a restaurant and yet its just about one of the single most difficult businesses there is, get ready to never do anything but live and breath in that restaurant and the failure rate is massive.

As a casual observer it seems like restaurants are one of the riskiest businesses to be in.

Had a hotel. Extremely successful, low expenses but by God so much headache. I had manager managing the hotel but I was scared all the time. He may call me in the middle of the night. Some customer some authority.... So much can go wrong. Sold it just for the stress it gave me.

Amazon FBA used to be a good gig. No longer. Everything you said is absolutely true. I used to do a half mil a year with FBA for many years. I bailed out and am very happy I did. I now tell everyone that is thinking about it to think again. It is not a good business anymore. Actually it isn't a business, it is a job. Anyone who can fire you at any time like Amazon does is not a business partner, they are your boss.

I never use an ATM.Instead I go to a grocery store that offers cash back. I by a bag of chips and get cash back. No charge.

I am so happy that I made a productive decisions about my finances that changed my life forever. I am a single mother and I live in Spain, I bought my second house in February and I hope to retire Next year at 40 if all goes well. Thanks to Lander C'Ann for helping me achieve this.

I have a successful trucking company (20+ trucks) and it is not easy at all. Most trucking (companies fail within the 1st year due to high insurance coverage, high turnover with drivers, constant truck maintenance, brokers giving low wage loads, fuel taxes and etc. Notice I didn’t even mention accidents.. You need to have a lot of money upfront cover unexpected cost. It took a while to get out the red. I am blessed and will continue to be blessed but I know too many who sold their trucks at a loss. Please stop selling this dream scenario with the trucking industry.

This content style is AMAZING. She’s nailing the mission of educational money making content being as (if not more) enjoyable as entertainment money taking content

There's a very successful Korean grocery store on my block. Unbelievable. Been there over 30 years. The doors on this place are like a turnstile, and they sell very little Korean food because this area is Spanish, and Portuguese ! But at least now I can appreciate spoilage.

I had a UPS store, in Canada, that nearly killed me. As a franchisee you are responsible for all the costs and the franchisor takes his profit from your sales, before you get any profit. YOu have little to no control over the lease of equipment, location, product, services or logistics. There is generally an advertising fee you pay to the franchisor, yet you have little control on how or where it is spent. Meanwhile locally, you create, buy or distribute to your local area. The value of the store varies on the status of the economy in your location. If it tanks so do you.

Codie don’t ever stop creating this contents. I watch or read atleast one of your contents a day

66% of entrepreneurs will never start a business? Huh? Isn’t that like the definition of one?

Started my first business at 31. Second at 46. Both successful. Sold both and retired at 57. This lady has it all right. Wise advice: very realistic. Most people that start a business don’t do the analysis up front. They are doomed before the doors open. That said, if it’s a smart plan, and you work very hard, you can do well. Good job, Codie Sanchez. 👍

Great content - This super informal style of content really suits you well, Codie

Thank you so much for your fantastic content! Your style really resonates with me, and I appreciate the effort you put into each piece. While I bring 40 years of hands-on business experience to the table, your content production skills are truly remarkable. Keep up the amazing work! Oh, and congratulations on your new podcast, BigDeal. It sounds like an exciting venture exploring the deeper why behind business success. I'll definitely check it out!

Just found you today, but as a biz owner one of the best videos I've ever seen. The style, the content & facts are all on point. Great job.

I had a friend who had a dry cleaner 30 years ago. He made a lot of money. I considered buying a dry cleaner but it seemed to be changing too much. The business I intended to buy is no longer in business.

In trucking, the last mile is the hardest mile especially if it's a combination rig. You have a lot of stops. There are restricted routes. The roads are not always wide enough. The four-wheelers always get in the way and don't let you merge. You don't know whether or not they have a dock and where it is. You might have to block traffic to unload, or you might have to back in off the street that doesn't have enough space.

I admire Codi's honesty. She's like the trustworthy older sibling or cousin who gives excellent advice and teaches with a method similar to that of PBS.

This is the best video! Thank you for all of the contact! Super helpful! I've been looking around my community and neighborhood I would love to own a small business❤

Codie, I’ve never seen your channel until today. I like you. Keep up the good work! 😊

I am looking to start my own online business. This is a great video. Now I know what to avoid when starting a business.

Really enjoyed this video (first time watching one of yours). I appreciate your straight-forward approach and professionalism without any “ums” “ahhs”. Nice work!

97% of gamblers literally quit before hitting it big

totally agree with you on restaurants - having worked for several large and small restaurant groups ( as finance head) - the most successful was a korean fried chicken fast food chain - we deliberately had small retail footprints to keep rent down and kept to a fairly simple offering .. that was straightforward to make. full service restaurants have a high failure rate for sure.

Love the honesty! That is the main reason why she got my follow a long time ago! Keep up that honesty and great content!!

Subscribed immediately, I remember watching a video of you long time ago and silly me didn't subscribe, and lost the content for a lot of time, luckily it got recommended again. Your content is gold

I'm surprised self storage wasn't featured. That seems to be a relatively stable high profit model.

Thanks Codie very informative video as usual...

Can’t think about the massive production behind this video, so I need to write it down: thank you for the content! I’ve been enlightened by your content since 2023 and it just keeps getting better. Codie is just *chefs kiss*

I’m glad you appeared on my suggested videos. Loved this video. You earned a new subscriber here!

Just like marriages, businesses have expiration dates. The trick is to see the end early enough to get out with a good outcome and a profit.

YAASSS !! I love thisss !! Im actually moving to Austin Texas, Im starting an app and there is so much community in Austin. I love regular people who are CREATING and not just being consumers !!

You’re so freaking good at what you do, this video was extremely informative and entertaining to watch

Thanks for opening up a dialogue to have a conversation about these things. That's the most important part!

Thanks for sharing this information. It really opened my eyes to the harsh realities of entrepreneurship. We should be extra cautious when choosing our business.

I love your content thanks for clearifying things Good job❤

Thank you, often wondered about many of these businesses. Thanks for including some success stories.

HUGS AND BLESSINGS TOTHIS WOMAN!!! I get so inspired by her videos!!!

Even worse then owning a dry cleaning business is being the landlord. The landlord will get the bill for remediation of the property.

Love the analysis! Thank you!

Congratulations Codie and team for reaching 1m! I remember watching when you had less than half, GO GIRL. CAN'T WAIT to see you at GWVL

Wow. This was an incredible video. Loved the topic. I learned a ton. You are the goat Codie!

Laundromats are not cheap to start. It actually costs around 500k-1.2 million to open one up from scratch when you factor in construction, permits, architect, lawyers, machines etc. I've owned one.

Senior Care centers Business isn't All roses. They are having difficulty hiring qualified people to care for the seniors. They are sued by the family members for mistreatment of their family member. And because of the abuse cases states are constantly increasing the staffing requirements. The ones that succeed often are the higher price facilities. How many people are finding in-home care through some services which are also struggling to find workers. And as you said, when the family is no longer able to pay the fees, you have to cut off the care.

Wow this is a worthy content.Great video Thankyou Codie Sanchez

When the Fed Ex delivery dude drops the package, lol. Great information, subbed!

I work as a cook in a restaurant and i can say making money in restaurant business in tough. Although spoilage can be controlled to the minimum (repurpose the chicken bones from your roast chicken to cook into broth and brown sauce; fry chicken skins that are otherwise thrown away from chicken tenders. ), so depending on how you repurpose the ingredients that are otherwise thrown away and make it into a sellable product. Another point the host forgot to mention is breakage. The more people that work in an establishment, the higher chance of breakage. But overall, it's a tough business to stay afloat because of expensive rental and manpower costs. The way to make money in F&B is to do grab and go stores where there is no dine in customers. There's a cap to how many dine in customers you can serve a day(customers only come during lunch and dinner time; at most you could only do 2 turnovers)but there's no cap to how many takeaway orders you can do a day. So for grab and go stores, you just need to make sure you cook good food and serve it fast and efficient. Plus, grab and go stores rental is a lot lower(rental is also determined by square feet), requires a lot lesser manpower(3 full time staff per shift, so 6 full time staff for a 16 hour operation) and upfront cost will be a lot lower because there is no tableware and cutlery that you need to buy.

You left out liquor stores. I'm 67 and have never seen one go out of business, and I've lived in 7 states.

You're the best! Thanks for all the work!

This video hit home. Parents owned a motel. On contaminated land (from former service station, not a drycleaner). Thanks gawd they never tried to open an on-site gym....

Laundromats are disappearing in NYC especially Manhattan which used to be packed with. Everyone is putting in Washing/dryer combo machines inside the rentals.

Rentals in Ontario Canada is a loosing business unless you can afford multiple properties and screen renters. If a renter doesn't want to pay rent it's 9 months to two years before you can get them kicked out.

what a nice video. giving a different perspective on stuff, especially on Amazon FBA.

You got a thumbs up for the information, but also for the presentation. In this age where a lot of the content is churned out mechanically, and now by AI, it is good to see information coming directly from someone passionate, has a point of view, and is obviously directly involved in the content.

Thank you, Codie. I would love to hear your thoughts on gas stations and convenience stores and daycares. Thank you!

thanks, amazing content

Thank you, really great information and a very concise manner. I'm looking forward to following you are learning more

It’s sheer Gem Codie ♦️ Keep thriving.

Dealing weed. High success.

This was so eye opening and thought provoking. You have a very engaging talking style, tanks for making this. I hope you can make a longer deep dive video on real estate for us.

Codi... you are amazing.. where will you be next. Addicted to you. Thank you!

I CANNOT believe it's taken me this long to find this channel. Thanks @Codie for the quality content

There is 24 hour gym in the local mall. NEXT DOOR there is an empty shopfront. I went into the gym and asked how many people they have go to the gym, they said 200/day and I saw one dusty whey powder kinda hidden in the corner somewhere, so I’m going to sell vitamins, supplements and all the stuff gym people are all about, because gym people are cultist and that equals money, wish me good luck

Brilliant job! Fantastic video!

I opened a niche furniture store. Made ok profit in FIRST yr. Made decent amount more second yr. Third yr sold the business for a tidy little profit. And, I sold it at the absolute worst the the big recession! People said you crazy, you cant give away a furniture business now. (They were bankrupting left and right). I was making profit all through this terrible period. As smart person saw this and bought it. It’s al about need. A needed niche product can work when others cant.

I agree that you need to follow the data, and this video is useful because it shows where people are pouring in their money and getting little in return, which allows the viewer to ask some hard questions about the nature of these businesses. BUT the data doesn't always tell the whole story about what's really going on inside these failed enterprises. The truth is that a large fraction of people who start businesses should probably never start ANY type of business, and will likely be unsuccessful much of the time because they lack either the knowledge or the appropriate personality type to do so. The businesses highlighted in this video are significant because they happen to be businesses that magnify this effect to a higher degree (and because people don't do their homework, and also go into businesses based upon where their heart is pulling them rather than hard facts, they unfortunately tend to be businesses that are started more frequently than others). I own multiple businesses, and I've started and sold multiple businesses, and what I've learned is that here is no "easy" business. There is no "sure thing". Starting and running a business is hard work, and it really doesn't matter what type of business it is. Whether you're starting a cutting edge software firm, a neighborhood deli, or a dairy farm, this is true. You have to know the intricacies of the business (and be prepared to constantly learn even more), you have to be prepared to work 80+ hours a week (and then work even more), and you have to have the mental stamina to be constantly bombarded by crisis after crisis and still think your way through problems clearly and decisively. Take restaurants for example (something I've owned). They're likely one of the most commonly dreamed about businesses in the US, one of the most commonly started, and sadly, the most commonly failed. This makes restaurants seem hopeless, but the truth is far more complex. The vast majority of people start restaurants because they love food or a particular food item, they think it would be a relatively easy business to start, and there's something romantic about opening one and being successful. But restaurants are hard. It's a viciously competitive business with dozens or even hundreds of competitors per square mile, each of them seeking that money in your wallet at mealtime. And it's hard to truly stand out from the crowd and build a reputation. And even when you find a customer, it's exceedingly hard to keep one without significant investments in advertising. Labor is a constant battle. You're endlessly fighting to get help, people constantly quit and go elsewhere regardless of what you pay them, and there are limits to the pay because of the margin ceilings you face. Every single day you'll have drama--someone will quit, a piece of equipment will fail, a health inspector will show up while an employee is doing something stupid, or a customer will call you and say they got sick on your chicken salad. And these businesses eat cash--even though a lot of money goes through the cash register, well over 90% of it goes right back out the door that same week, so a large unplanned expense is very painful. Most people aren't aware of these things because they haven't done the research, and most don't have the personality to power through it. They're starting a pizzeria because it seems easy, they got their grandmother's sauce recipe, and "who doesn't like pizza?". How hard could it be? All I've got to do is turn the 'open' sign on and people will flood in, right? If there was a business out there that was foolproof, and made obscene amounts of money, trust me when I tell you that everyone would do it. There are always investors sitting on the sidelines with cash looking for good opportunities--I'm one of them--and if the business was that perfect, it would become quite obvious because of investors pouring in (and being successful). But I've also learned that you can actually make money doing anything if you do it well. Even in a crowded marketplace, the cream rises to the top. As a business owner, I've met millionaire electricians, landscapers, plumbers, and interior decorators. I've also met a lot of broke doctors and lawyers who should've never gone into private practice. The key to this is not the type of business, but the match between the business and the owner's personality, their knowledge (and willingness to gain even more knowledge), and their innate ability to work through problems (often working extreme hours, to get to solutions, even while knowing that new problems will surface tomorrow). Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur, and when you add a lot of zeroes to the end of the project--such as hundreds of thousands of dollars in restaurant equipment or laundry equipment--the stakes are even higher.

(9:50) So this is why my power button is loose. Too dang funny!!!!!

The gym I belong to is owned by a bunch of doctors that use it as well for patient rehab. They have 3000 members at 55 a month and it’s always vacant and you can always get a machine…they are making bank man…and it part of their “business” so the write offs are fantastic

Loved this! Thank you so much for such a great video. I'd love start a biz one day. You're my teacher!!

I've been an Amazon Seller since 2015. I was actually making a six figure income from 2019-2022. Now it has tumbled and it's going to be very tough to bring it back up. The amount of competition specifically the Chinese sellers, Wall Street money, worldwide competition are taking over the market. Don't let any of those tiktok gurus fool you. The profit margins for this type of business is in the single digits at best.

I just discovered your channel and I can’t stop watching your videos. I love your content

Much respect for the research that went into this video.

I'm in year 3 of my restaurant. In the process of moving, location and customer retention is everything. A great product, amazing staff and excellent customer service. It's a very hard business but and extremely rewar business.

On rentals, you have to deal with people who don't pay and won't leave.

FBA isn't a good business. Wasn't bad up until 2021. The competition is insane. We have 150 plus SKUs on there that we manufacture ourselves. One fun fact...one of our products was doing $12k per month last summer. That one product now has 15 knock off competitors. 15! All vying for tiny little market for this niche product. All Chinese competitors. Don't even get me started on the review shenanigans and the increased Amazon fees. Up 50% year over year. Latest fun? You can't have too little inventory or too much otherwise you get another fee. We are actively moving our business off of Amazon.

Thank you ❤ for pointing out the burdens.

The high success rate in trucking is due to many CDL drivers running the truck they own. It is VERY difficult to expand to get out of the truck so unless you want to live on the road, that isn't really a sound option. Many of them get stuck and cannot leave because the truck overhead costs are too high to cover in another line of work and they would be stuck with payments on a worthless piece of equipment.

66% of entrepreneurs never start a business? That's not an entrepreneur then, that's a talker.

Did the laundry mat business. So much time and effort and eventually realized the business owned me. Can be done if you set this as your primary source of income but as a side hustle, too time consuming.

Awesome job on this video! Thanks for the data proof. 🙏 ❤️

As a Hospice nurse who has worked with lots of patients in senior care centers, I would NEVER own one. Too much liability, too much can go wrong in caring for the elderly, staffing is a nightmare and it doesn't even make sense for someone who isn't a nurse to own one, as no one except a nurse has any idea of what it's like to be responsible for an elderly person's 24 hour care needs. Also government regulations and documentation requirements are outrageous and are what drive everything, often at the expense of what is actually best for the patient.

How about a costume store. My Dad was convinced they only exist to launder money.

A lot of the businesses you recommend have margins so small that the landlord can quickly make not viable . Escalating rents on commercial properties have forced major chains in my area to completely close

Love this! Great job girl!

Please keep telling people to fail. You help me eliminate competition!

I don't know how I stumbled onto this sight but WOW. As a former CPA and business advisor I am impressed by everything about this video from the facts and data to the presentation. I even appreciate the "Contrarian Thinking" clipboard. I am very much a contrarian on everything from GMO's, The Flint Water Crisis to election results and just about anything else. I believe that if there was more actual thinking there would be more contrarians...

Wish me luck then…With my Beach Hotel in the Philippines….we open next year!

I did FBA for a while and it was a GREAT side hustle. 10 years ago. I did something like $75k sales with $15k profit doing 5-10 hours of work a week, with very little effort. It would have been even better if I had started earlier. Competition picked up, the algorithms started favoring 3rd party seller even less, fees increased, and profit margins dropped. I started making a bit more with my main job, and suddenly it just wasn't worth my time. Especially once Amazon started sourcing some of the products I was selling, effectively deleting anyone but themselves from the algorithms. I can't imagine trying it now, with all added fees, amazon regulations, and competition from other 3rd parties, abroad, and Amazon itself.

you keep coming out with fire videos dude. thank you!

I really hope the FTC wins their lawsuit against Amazon because of what they’re doing to small businesses & to consumers. I shop on Amazon all the time because it’s convenient. I’m just too lazy to be an activist. Amazon just doesn’t play fair against small businesses.

Go to your local community college and enroll in a classes teaching plumbing, electrical, appliance repair. Yes, it take a two year commitment to learn a trade. Add some business and accounting classes as well. When you've completed your education go to work for a small company where the owner is in their early 60's. Chances are you can buy their going business as it's difficult to sell these businesses because you need to learn a skilled trade. Within 10 years you can have 6 to 10 technicians / trucks out earning serious income. The plumbing business and electrical contractors that I know make serious money. That's my two cents.

So glad I found this video You did a good job on all the research Saved me a lot of time :)

11:27 I love your use of Vaudeville, it's a forgotten genre that adds to your videos.