Ms. Anjana Tamrakar is the Executive Director of Creative Women’s Craft (CWC) and a consultant and free-lance trainer in the field of Cottage, Small and Medium Enterprise; Micro Credit and Enterprise Development.

Ms. Tamrakar’s experience at different institutions made her realize the suffering of the low-income women in Nepal and thus decided to set up a business of her own that would assist them. As she had much experience, knowledge and skill about Nepali paper she founded CWC in 1997 to achieve her desire to assist the low income women. CWC produces wide range of paper products for sale in Nepal and for export as well. CWC exports its products to USA, Canada, Austria and many more.

BizMantra, the SME Toolkit in Nepal, holds promotional workshops at regular intervals to familiarize Nepalese SMEs with the Nepalese version of the Toolkit and to help them improve their business processes. Ms. Tamrakar participated in a BizMantra Promotional Workshop organized in association with Federation of Nepal Cottage and Small Industries (FNCSI) in 30th Dec, 2004. Ms. Tamrakar is also an active member of FNCSI.

Recollecting what she had gained in the BizMantra workshop, Ms. Tamrakar visited the BizMantra Web site. Out of the seven functions cited in the toolkit, she found Business Planning, Accounting and Finance and Marketing extensively useful both for her business as well as for her training programs.

Talking to BizMantra, she shared that the book keeping techniques and templates are easy to understand and use. Thus, she has replaced her traditional way of book keeping with the format available in BizMantra Toolkit. She said, ‘The formats have made the postings simple and easy.” She also shared that the business planning formats and the tips encouraged her to make her own business plan, which she has been confidently using for her business purposes these days. Emphasizing the need of such toolkits, she also said that the marketing tips have helped her generate new ways of marketing her products, which has assisted her in lubricating her business. “BizMantra has fed me with the management perspective of streamlining my business and to achieve greater goals and targets,” says Ms. Tamrakar.

Ms. Tamrakar lives by the principal of 4 C’s and also encourages Nepalese women to live by these principles and start their own business:
- Change – adapt to change
- Creativity – be creative, especially in business
- Continuity – don’t give up!
- Challenge – face the challenges in every walk of life.

Appreciating BizMantra Ms. Tamrakar said that the materials available in BizMantra Toolkit are perfect for training as well. She shared that she has been using BizMantra Toolkit materials in her training package and they have been a value addition to her training package.

Ms. Tamrakar explains, "BizMantra is a guide that leads to streamlining management practices to bring out effective and efficient results.”

Thousands of small businesses are registered in the country every year and many of them do not even survive to see the second year. Same is the trend in all parts of the globe. Many blame it on the “luck” factor; some blame it on the factors beyond their control. But a closer look at these failures would reveal some common reasons or set of crucial issues that act as the so called “omens” of these failures. No business is risk free or can guarantee a success, but identification and acknowledging these “omens” can definitely increase the chance of success.

1. Extending a Hobby into a Business
2. Limited or Inadequate Planning
3. Entrepreneurial Myopia
4. Ignoring Competition
5. Wrong Location
6. Ineffective Marketing
7. Poor Money (Cash) Management
8. Lack of Experience
9. Ignored Customer Service
10. Entrepreneurial Exhaustion

1. Extending a Hobby into a Business
Most small businesses are established as an extension of their hobby with a notion that it will bring in profits. It is a common mistake small business owners make to believe that their passion for something is shared by others as well. Just because one loves something doesn’t mean you should convert it into a business, this too often leads to small businesses failing. One needs to do the proper homework and research on the business idea and concepts to make sure it is viable.

2. Limited or Inadequate Planning
It is necessary to have a business plan, may not elaborate but at least a simple plan which has the realistic but precise goals for the firm, including deadlines. These set goals need to be backed with the steps or activities required to meet them and set deadlines for completing those activities. The business plan helps one to focus on the goals and the vision. It must be remembered that business planning is not a one-time affair, one need to consult and review the business plan to keep track of the successes or achievements.

3. Entrepreneurial Myopia
It is natural that “entrepreneurs” in their moment of excitement over new ideas and concepts, often fail go beyond it and to determine if they are the “true opportunities”. It is even more difficult for them in this state to put them into practice in a planned manner. One has to understand that it is important to test every new idea against the business plan and goals before deciding whether to undertake it or not. Another important question to ask is does one have the required time and skill to implement or not?

4. Ignoring Competition
Initial success achieved by new ideas often leads to competition moving in. It is important to understand the basic behavior of the consumers; customers will go where they can find the best products and services, even if that means breaking long-term relationships. Consumer loyalty shifts around and just being the pioneer of the new idea does not guarantee loyal customers. It is important to monitor the competitors, know who they are, what they offer and how one can learn from them. It may be surprising but many a times competitors are the best source to devise new methods to better products or services.

5. Wrong Location
It is plain and simple fact that even the best of businesses will fail if it is in the wrong place. If a business requires a space to run then one needs to make sure that it is in convenient location to the target customers, and also near to the suppliers and employees.

6. Ineffective Marketing
Products and services do not just sell on their own, even if it is the best. A simple fact needs to be understood, marketing keeps the products selling and ensures much needed money flows into the business. It is essential to market ones product effectively, if it requires hiring an experienced person then it must be done.
It also can be seen that small businesses normally will have just one product or service catered solely for one big customer. The dependence on the particular customer is so much that the failure risks increases immensely. Proper marketing can ensure variety and diversification in the customers base which acts to shield business against the highs and lows of the business. All marketing and selling efforts, whether a failure or success, has to be tracked and treated as a learning step.

7. Poor Money (Cash) Management
Cash management is a crucial issue which always taunts small businesses, which are usually established with limited financial resources. Even a profitable venture will flounder if it runs short of cash. Small business owners are seen to constantly drain the business income on personal spending, which results into cash shortages, which is devastating to new businesses with limited financial resources. Often businesses are very slow to take off, which means one ought to learn to make cash flow projections to help decide how much money one can afford to spend and still cushion from impending troubles.

8. Lack of Experience
As a small business owner one has to undertake many functions, from administration to marketing in order to run a business effectively. A person may be great at fixing computers or cooking, but that is not enough to start a successful computer consultancy business or catering business. On top of that, one has to have knowledge and understanding of the industry, the skills required to offer the products and services, and the trends in the industry.
Successful small business owners tend to be skilled at a number of tasks, from accounting to marketing to hiring. It is important to educate, talk to other people in the industry or get an outside help if one does not know about the basic business skills. Also keep increasing business and industry skills by attending classes or reading new books every year.

9. Ignored Customer Service
A customer in the bag does not mean the customer is “always” in the bag. Once the business has a customer, it has to learn to keep them. One can never ignore customer’s needs – learn what the customer wants, track the changes and ensure the changes in wants are accommodated into the services or products. Good and prompt customer service is a key aspect of how to survive in a competitive business arena. If the business fails to service the customers, one need not be surprised to find someone else willing to do and waiting just outside the doors.

10. Entrepreneurial Exhaustion
Owning a business, however small, requires a huge investment of time, money, energy and emotion. It is often seen that small business owners tend to do all the functions of the business themselves. It is easy to work long days and forget to take time off in the initial phase. But in the end, this only causes exhaustion where ones interest, motivation and creativity suffers. Also poor time-management and inability to balance between business and personal life hampers processing of works.
Putting off tasks because of poor time management and because one does not enjoy, usually will sink the business faster than anything else. It is important to understand that all tasks need to be done. If one does not like or does not have time to spend doing them, hire someone skilled enough to do them.