Magnetic

17Losing Your Magnetic Mojo

Can a Magnet Lose Its Strength?

Physical magnets actually do lose a very small fraction of their magnetism over time. For most magnets, it has been shown to be less than 1 percent over a period of 10 years.

Factors that can affect a magnet's strength include heat, radiation, strong electrical currents in close proximity to the magnet, and other magnets in close proximity to the magnet.

Unfortunately, in the case of a business, magnetism can disappear at a much faster rate. It might happen slowly, but it can also happen in what seems like the blink of an eye.

We've all seen it. A business is booming, customers are happy, and all is well. Then one day there's a Closed sign on the door. What happened?

There are also lots of businesses that do well and grow for a while, then plateau and get stuck at a level of results that lets them survive, but not prosper.

Some businesses never get off the ground, and it's no surprise when they simply don't make it. But what about the ones that do have that magnetic mojo going on, they are doing well, maybe even extremely well, for a period of time, and yet somehow it all slips away from them?

Any number of things can cause a business's ability to attract and keep customers to disappear, and almost all of them are avoidable. It's not easy to stay in business these days because factors change all the time, including changes in customer demands, competition, technology, and much more. But what puts a once-successful ...