Less than half of small retailers make five year milestone

More than 90% of small retailers survive their first year of business, but less than half make it to the half-decade milestone.

The revelation came as think-tank Ormsby Street launched its business survival calculator, which uses data to determine survival rates for different sectors within UK small business.

According to the calculator, only 43% of small retailers survive for five years, while 93% make it for a year.

Poor cash flow was identified as one of the main reasons a business will fail.

Last year, Tushy Subramaniam opened a Premier store in Chartham, Kent, which had failed under several previous owners.

“They stocked what they thought was best, not what the customers wanted,” he said. “A lot of retailers make that mistake.”

Click here to view Ormsby Street’s business survival calculator.