If you had ‘The ultimate business start-up book’ on how to start a brilliant business, and you gave copies to 100 hopeful business start-ups, would they all succeed? No.

With over 2,000 years of business experience humans should have mastered the essential skills to run a successful business, but still too many fail. The clue is cited by a recent ‘Startup Institute’ survey where 41% cited staff issues as the reason for failure.

You could have ‘The ultimate business start-up book’, but it’s not the knowledge that is missing, it’s the awareness of our human abilities. Without understanding and appreciating our natural abilities first, it’s like setting off driving a vehicle without knowing whether it’s a bulldozer, F1 Racing car, people carrier or a beach buggy. They are all vehicles, but they all perform differently.

Only after we understand our personal abilities, and identified the areas where we need help, are we equipped to move forward, knowing when we can go fast and when we need assistance.

The study was based on responses from 100 start-ups across the US and Europe, found that staffing issues are holding start-ups back and causing them to fail because it means they lack the skills to execute on ideas.