I think that business continuity is a poor proxy for "success" and that lack of it is a poor proxy for "failure".
For example, let's say you hang out your shingle as a self-employed software consultant today. Two years and 3 successful projects from now, one of your clients offers you enough money to convince you to go full time for them. You, accordingly, close your business. While that is counted as a "failure" by most metrics, that doesn't look like a failure to me. (Losing all your money and being reduced to bankruptcy, now I'll agree that certainly looks like a failure, but nobody tracks that.)
For example, let's say you hang out your shingle as a self-employed software consultant today. Two years and 3 successful projects from now, one of your clients offers you enough money to convince you to go full time for them. You, accordingly, close your business. While that is counted as a "failure" by most metrics, that doesn't look like a failure to me. (Losing all your money and being reduced to bankruptcy, now I'll agree that certainly looks like a failure, but nobody tracks that.)