Today, once clear lines have evaporated. Now, there is one broad, and somewhat murky, financial services sector populated with many types of financial service providers and many types of financial advisors. The relaxation of industry regulations, industry consolidation, the subtle, and ongoing, shift from transaction based business to fee based business, and the trend toward small independent firms has produced a whole new playing field. Most firms, large and small, and their advisors now offer a vast mix of products and services from banking to investments, tax planning, insurance, financial planning, you name it. So, it's no surprise that consumer confusion exists.

nvisioning the failure of your company can be as important as envisioning its success. There is nothing like winding down a business after catastrophic failure to help you step back and really understand the big picture with remarkable clarity. Why not understand failure so that it never really happens.

There are more books about succeeding in business then curse words on MTV. It is not easy to define what makes a business succeed, but it is easy to describe what makes a business fail. If you are starting your business or currently being miserably unsuccessful, you might want to read on.