7 Ways To Save A failing Business

I meet a lot of people every day who are either struggling to sustain their business or are just not satisfied with the progress so far. But my swift answer to them is: ‘nothing just happens’. If your business is not working, there must be something you are not yet doing right or not doing at all. The following will help a young business that is struggling:


1. WHAT AREA OF THE BUSINESS IS NOT WORKING?

There are various aspects of business- whether product-based or service based. Therefore in order to solve the problem, you have to know what exactly is not working. Is it lack of capital or adequate skills and expertise? It could be that you are not even in the right business. So the first step is to identify what is not working in the business.


2. AM I IN THE RIGHT BUSINESS?
Every business is a potential success, provided you made the right choice of business to pursue. The right business will show signs of growth no matter what is currently happening. Customers may not be as much as you expect but there would be entrepreneurial confidence to continue. If a business is not making progress, the best thing to do is to re-visit your motivation for starting the business. You may need to suspend operations to find out whether a change of business would be in your best interest.

3. AM I PROPERLY LOCATED?

A business can be right for you but if you did not take your time to do a proper feasibility study and market research, you may still have problems of wrong location. How do you know if your location is wrong? There is no quick answer to this but there is an indicator you may use: Ready availability of customers. Generator importers have been highly successful in this nation because of the epileptic power supply. Do a proper feasibility study and market research and if you have to change your location, please do.

4. DO I HAVE THE REQUIRED SKILLS?
Every business requires adequate skills. Customers do not just celebrate products or services. They celebrate speed of delivery, excellence, aesthetics, effective customer relations, after sales services and so on. If you lack the required skills to give these to them, my advice is to go in search of knowledge or use the services of consultants in your area

5. IS IT POOR FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT?

Any business without adequate bookkeeping is a business bound to fail no matter the present cash flow. If you are running the business all by yourself you should go for some education in financial management or employ the services of an accountant or account clerk, depending on the size of your business. To effectively manage your finances, plan a sound, realistic budget by determining the startup, operating costs for the business. The first step to building a sound financial plan is to devise a start-up budget. If you started your business without it, you may consider reviewing your budget. It should include such onetime only costs as major equipment, utility deposits, down payments, etc.
The start-up budget should allow for these expenses: personnel (costs prior to opening), legal/professional fees, rent, equipment, licenses/permits, supplies, advertising/promotions, salaries/wages, accounting, utilities, and payroll expenses. The above list may be a good starting point to review. But please consult experts for professional advice

6. DO I NEED MORE WORKING CAPITAL?
Working capital is required for all new businesses to pay for licenses and other legal fees, purchase equipment, rent space, initial advertising, salaries, and virtually all other expenses that need to be covered until your business revenues will cover and exceed all expenses. Therefore it would be inappropriate for you to expect the initial profits from the business to cover the running costs. Yes, you can start small but there are some basic things that you need to put in place to eventually give the business a life of its own.

7. CAN I FIX THE PROBLEM OR NEED EXTERNAL AID?

Only you can determine that. Many business problems could be solved by talking to a consultant or someone who has been successful in running the same type of business. You don’t have to know the person before. If the person is really knowledgeable and secured he would give you vital tips that you can work with. Pride and overconfidence is at the root of failure of many businesses. Don’t be too proud to ask for help.