*Business closings in the region resulted in the loss of 122 jobs through the first nine months of last year.

It's tough to stay in business.

Last year, 141 businesses opened in Cape Girardeau, but 214 closed, a net loss of 73.

Those statistics come from the city finance department, which issues business licenses.

The news was better in 1993, when 183 businesses opened and 165 closed, leaving a net gain of 18.

But the 1994 figures don't cause alarm for business experts like Buz Sutherland, director of the Small Business Development Center in Cape Girardeau.

Nationwide, 75 to 80 percent of all new businesses close within the first five years.

Ron Steele knows all about business closings. He and his wife used to operate a day-care center in Ironton. The center primarily took care of Brown Shoe employees' children.

"But then Brown Shoe closed. One day we had children, and the next we didn't," he recalled.

For the past seven years, Steele has worked as a regional economic development planner with the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission based in Perryville.

Steele keeps track of businesses that open, expand or close in the seven-county region of Cape Girardeau, Bollinger, Iron, Madison, Perry, St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve.

For the first three quarters of 1994, 105 businesses opened, 32 expanded and 18 closed in the region, commission records show. The commission has yet to record fourth-quarter statistics.

Steele acknowledged that the number of closings listed is an incomplete record at best. Most of the commission's information comes from reading newspapers. As a result, he said, many closings go unnoticed.

"The press generally covers the openings, but nobody bothers to cover it when it closes," Steele said.

Overall, the region gained nearly 2,300 jobs from new business starts and expansions. Business closings resulted in the loss of 122 jobs through the first nine months of last year.

Sutherland said, "Every closure is not necessarily a failure." He said some business owners close up shop because they want to retire.

Sutherland said many business failures result from a lack of good business planning. "A high percentage don't bother to write down the simplest business plans."

The Small Business Development Center provides advice to persons who are operating small companies or who are considering starting businesses.

"We had a gentleman come in the other day who was bemoaning things like employment costs and workmen's compensation," he said.

Competition also is tough. "The mass merchandisers are tough competition. You've got to be creative in looking at the niche you want to have in your business," Sutherland said.

Sutherland said business closings involve more than a financial toll. "There is gut-wrenching, personal and emotional dues that are paid for these businesses."