I’d seen/heard the high level statistics about the prevalence of bankruptcies without any explanations. That leads to simplistic, incorrect conclusions. And self-serving recommendations to reduce the risk by buying a franchise or getting coaching, etc.

If a business ends because the owner joins another firm, that could be a success: the entrepreneur attracted someone who wanted them. Failed entrepreneurs are mainly sought by those who make money by selling them hope.

I think one of the common problems for business “failure” is the entrepreneur taking on too much risk. Borrowing a lot of money, quitting their day job etc are moves that raise the bar for the business since it now not only has to be profitable, it has to be very profitable in order to make debt payments and provide a living for the owner.

As for the perceived risk in starting a business – some businesses are pretty risky especially if they need a lot of capital upfront. Starting a new restaurant for example probably needs quite a bit of cash to renovate the place, hire employees etc. Starting an online business can be very low risk ie a blog since there is no real cash requirement.