Macdonalds have the lowest failure rate of all "small business" startups in the world - yes small business, every single Macdonalds is privately owned. The owners of MacDonalds restaurants are not highly qualified MBA's - they are ordinary people. So why then does Macdonalds have the lowest failure rate amongst small business in the world - it's because of the systems - the management of running a Macdonalds is the system - the system run the business in a consistently predictable way and the people run the system - thats why they are such a huge success.
A MacDonalds franchisee is only granted a licence to open his store after he has passed rigorous training and education in the "Business of the MacDonalds Business". Running a succesful business is not rocket science - it's all in the systems.
The above is what you as a small business owner must strive for - establish systems and standards for your business so that there is organization and structure, so that every single person knows exactly what they must be doing, when, how and to what standard of performance. Once you have worked out that secret you will have a predictable and sustainable business.
Without systems chaos and confusion reign.
The business does not have a heart or a mind of its own - it does only what you tell it to do - if you send it down the path of failure it WILL fail. If you set it up for success it will succeed. Its really that simple.