Open any search engine and type “small business tips”, and you will get the same fifteen ideas dressed up in different words. Write a business plan. Know your audience. Use social media. Network more. These are not wrong, but they are not the reason most small businesses actually struggle. The businesses that survive past year three usually get one thing right that rarely gets a proper mention: they treat the boring, unglamorous parts of running a business- cash flow, pricing, systems, and customer retention- as seriously as they treat the exciting parts like branding and marketing. This article digs into…