1. Lack of determination. Many people have a great idea for a start-up. But they are unsure about how to proceed. So, they spend some time doing initial planning. Sooner or later, though, they come up against either complications they did not anticipate, or arrive at a point where they don't know what to do next. As a result, their embryonic idea simply fades away.
2. Lack of experience. Most start-up entrepreneurs have a good idea for creating the content of a new publication. Far fewer have the requisite experience on the business side of starting a new publication. In the absence of that know-how, they end up trying out a lot of untested ideas, often applying inappropriate solutions to common problems. Some are able to learn from their mistakes. But their lessons are expensive and eat deeply into start-up capital, thus jeopardizing success in the critical, formative stages of operation.
3. Lack of a market. This is a key source of failure. A lot of people try to start publications for which they believe there "ought" to be a market. But, sadly, all too many times, non exists. They set out to produce a publication to meet this hypothetical demand. Often, the publications produced are quite well done and of high quality. When they fail, the start-up entrepreneurs attribute the lack of success to a weakness in the market. But, of course, there never was a market in the first place.