How to save a losing business?

Business is always a lottery. You can either win millions or lose everything. And no one can even predict it. Even large companies sometimes suddenly end their activities, it’s not worth talking about small enterprises. 

Yes, no one is safe from this, but you can learn how to get out of these situations with minimal losses. This will be discussed further.

10 signs your business is in trouble

1. The head of the company no longer burns with his work. Previously, there was an incentive to run to work early in the morning, but now you hardly come to dinner? This is one of the most important signs that have nothing to do with laziness. Everyone needs a break, but if it drags on for several months, it’s bad. Even in well-established processes, the hand of a leader is required, and if it is not there, employees relax. And their logic can be understood: if the owner does not need anything, then why should they need it?

2. Valuable personnel are leaving the team. In general, any changes in the team are a weighty argument that a crisis is beginning. It usually starts with personnel problems. The best specialists work on pure enthusiasm, many of them are motivated not even by money, but by an idea. They think completely differently than the rest, and therefore move the company forward. And when this enthusiasm disappears for any reason, collapse occurs. They go to another place where they are valued more than here.
3. You don’t want to be involved in business development, think of it more like a past experience than a business that lives in the present. The mind is overtaken by various memories, in which, of course, everything used to be better. They warm the soul and day by day you sort them out. But if you want to remember the past, then the present is boring and unpromising, and this is such a wake-up call.
4. Employees do not want to take part in group events, they are not interested in corporate parties. They just don’t want to meet each other outside the office. If you notice this behavior, try to figure out what is the reason and fix it. Do not forget about it, the team should be friendly and united – this is the basis of effective work.
5. Discord and innuendo between partners. If no one shares ideas, there will probably be a split soon. When one partner loses interest in the business, he begins to think through options for development outside the company and prepare the ground for this.
6. The team does not want to develop and improve professional skills. If before everyone’s eyes were burning, and they were ready to fulfill not only their own, but also other people’s duties, then there is no smell of such excitement. Increasingly, errors bordering on a fiasco are traced. This problem can be solved by banal motivation: bonuses, free education, joint leisure.
7. Business is backtracking. For example, you started packing packages for customers in a beautiful craft wrapper, and then decided to abandon this idea and fall back to a simple plastic bag. If you took a step back, then it will be even worse.
8. Neither you nor the staff are pumping. Because it seems to you that everything possible has already been explored. But you are wrong. There are no areas where there is no development. Tritely changing fashion and behavior patterns, it’s not even worth talking about technology. If you do not keep track of all this, you can get stuck in a swamp for a long time, while competitors will become the owner of your customers.
9. You don’t see the need to take risks. Business without risk is impossible – this is the way to its development. New ideas are always good, and if you don’t look for them, things can end badly.
10. The team treats customers badly. No, they smile kindly into their eyes, only the word “idiot” sounds behind their backs. But after all the company lives at the expense of such “idiots”. Disrespect must not be allowed for people who give salaries and allow businesses to flourish.

When can you revive your business?

When it has value to you and you don’t want to give up. To do this, you can try to do the following:

• Change the team: there may be no sales, because managers do not know how to find an approach to the client, and marketers do not convey the essence of the product well.
• Upgrade the site: if you can’t do it yourself, contact the relevant agency, which will point out your mistakes to you.
• See if everything is in order with the accounting: it must be done correctly so that you understand where the money goes.
• Reduce costs – how to do this is the topic of a separate article. But you can look for options on your own. At least in terms of office maintenance.
• Change suppliers: there are always those who sell cheaper.
• Avoid bad-selling products.

When should a business close?

Let’s make a reservation right away: the closure of the project is not a disaster. This is a normal state of affairs. As the saying goes: the horse is dead – get off. Treat it as an experience – in your next business, you will work on the mistakes. 

If you have an LLC, you may not liquidate it. Just file zero tax returns and you won’t have to pay anything. As soon as you are ready for the revival, you will use a ready-made company.

If you have an IP, it will be a little more difficult. If only because you will have to pay tax in any case, even if there is no profit. And this is not entirely profitable. When you need to – open a new one, it’s not difficult.

In what cases is it better to close a business?

• If you tried to revive it, following the instructions from the previous paragraph, but nothing worked out for you.
• There was a point of no return: every entrepreneur determines when the company can no longer exist. Approached her – time to start all over again.
• You have a lot of debt that you can’t pay off. There is no point in waiting until everything changes, because loans accumulate and grow.
• No interest in business. We think this point is not worth explaining. If you do not want to do this business, there will be no result.

There are two options for the termination of the existence of a business – bankruptcy and liquidation of the company. The second option is preferable, especially for IP. The bankruptcy of an individual entrepreneur is a stigma that cannot be shaken off. In particular, you will not be able to engage in entrepreneurial activities for 3 years, they will not give you a loan, even more – they can confiscate property. 

When a legal entity declares itself bankrupt, there are fewer risks. Since here the situation is not transferred to the individual. But still, the only justifiable option to declare yourself bankrupt is when there are so many debts that you cannot get rid of them. In all other cases, it is better to choose liquidation.

When to sell a business

When you realize that you can’t cope on your own, but you want the business to live. You can sell a business through free classifieds portals or social networks. True, it will not be so easy to do this, because the business is unprofitable. Your chances will increase dramatically if the following conditions are met:

1. There are no large debts – no one wants to hang them on themselves. 
2. Availability of prospects – you do not have funds for development, and this is the main problem. If you invest money in a business, it will heal – that’s what this paragraph is about. 
3. The new owner is an experienced businessman who sees mistakes and can correct them.

Do not try to deceive the buyer, tell it like it is. Your lies will be exposed very quickly. Sometimes a regular online service is enough for this.

Summarize

A business does not always bring the results that its owner expected. The main thing is to approach the issue with a cool head and be able to act clearly in a difficult situation. Already at the very beginning it is worth making a plan of action in case of failure. No, you need to believe in success, but you should not forget about the crisis either. Just prepare a plan B that will solve internal problems. And believe, of course, in the best.