Do you have a sinking feeling that your business might be failing? If so, you’re not alone. Unfortunately, many companies don’t succeed. Only about half of all businesses survive in the first five years of operation. If you think your business might be one of them, take action now to avoid disaster later. The sooner you identify and address the problems in your business, the better your chances are of turning things around.
Your Growth has Slowed or Stopped
If you’ve experienced rapid growth over the past few years, congratulations! But, if your growth has slowed or stopped, you need to figure out why. Most businesses experience a slowdown at some point due to poor marketing, seasonal variation, market saturation or simple lack of sales. If your growth has completely stopped, you must immediately investigate potential causes. If these issues aren’t addressed, you could fall into decline and eventually shut down.
You’re Constantly Struggling to Find and Retain Quality Employees
Finding and retaining quality employees is one of the biggest challenges for all business owners. Successful companies, however, have learned how to mitigate the problem. You have a serious problem if you’re constantly struggling to keep good employees around. You need to offer competitive salaries, benefits, and work conditions to make your company an attractive place to work. Listen to your employees to find ways you could change to improve their work life and avoid losing valuable experience. You could even consider hiring some new blood with expertise in your field or consulting someone with experience, like James Dolan, for tips on where you could improve.
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You’re Experiencing a Loss in Product Quality or Customer Service
If your customers complain about a loss in product quality or customer service, you could be headed for disaster. If one or two isolated complaints are made, it could be a one-time error, but if a pattern emerges, you’ll need to figure out why. If you can’t correct the problem, your business could be doomed. Customers are your most important feedback, so listen to what they say. Focusing on their complaints can make profound changes that make your product more desirable and hopefully encourage further growth.
You’re Running Out of Money
You might be in trouble if you’ve been living on the edge for a while now and constantly wondering if you’ll have enough cash to meet monthly expenses. If your business model calls for consistent cash flow from operations, but you always run short at the end of the month, changes need to be made sooner rather than later.
Money is necessary to meet payroll, make necessary repairs, or purchase new supplies. Without it, you can’t keep going, so a lack of it is the most significant sign that something is going wrong with your business. There are a few ways you can approach this issue – dire circumstances call for massive changes, so making radical shifts to a new business model might be what’s needed. If you firmly believe the way you’re doing things is correct and you just need a little more time, then funding raising or looking for investors could be your next logical step.
