Yeah, I was talking about ones that went out of business.
And it is a fair observation. However, I wouldn't consider something "not growing" as a failure. Why does it have to grow? It might not be what you want it to be, but then it's only a failure to you and not an objectively failed business...
...an objectively failed biz simply is one that's not in business anymore. Thanks for the input though, interesting story about both businesses.
For the owners, they may be wild successes because they pay the bills and allow them to do something they enjoy. Or travel, or whatever else they want to do with their lifestyle business.
Neither opinion is right or wrong, just depends on your perspective. The only "absolute" failures are arguably the ones that have gone completely out of business.