There are many reasons why your business might fail and every single successful person in history has tasted defeat at least once in their career. When you take into a consideration that people like Walt Disney and Abraham Lincoln went bankrupt at one point in their lives, it will no longer sound like a piece of fiction that such a thing could happen to you, as well. What you need to learn though, is how to get your business back on its feet.
Diagnose the original problem
The first step you need to take here is to try to diagnose the original problem in order to see where things went wrong. Most commonly, it’s either unrealistic expectations, the lack of understanding of the market or the problem regarding the unexpected expenses that are the issue. On the other hand, it’s also possible that your staff is underperforming, that your infrastructure is inefficient or that your offer isn’t nearly as compelling as you believed it will be. So, start by diagnosing the original problem and start devising a plan to efficiently and effectively remove it.
Improve your own abilities
The next thing you need to understand is the fact that there are a lot of administrative tasks that will be your own responsibility. Are you really ready to face these challenges? If not, is there something you can do about it? For instance, if you’re required to handle your corporate finances, you can either enlist on a course or outsource this task to a professional accountant. On the other hand, tasks like leadership are not something you can entrust to anyone else. In that case, you need to start looking for suitable literature and get in touch with organizations like The Impossible Institute in order to work on your leadership skills. Your own abilities are your most reliable asset.
Work on your cash flow
Previously, we’ve mentioned the fact that your finances may be the most important reason why your business failed. To avoid this from happening, as well as to put your team back on its track, you need to learn how to improve your cash flow. First of all, create an emergency fund instead of reinvesting all your profits right away. Second, incentivize immediate payments and be prepared to sell invoices or apply for new loans. Finally, the money your clients owe you is the same money you owe to your employees, suppliers and investors. Therefore, don’t be so quick to forgive or tolerate late payments.
Make a flexible work model
One of the things you need to prepare for is the fact that your workload won’t always meet the capacities of your business. Sometimes, you’ll have more work than you can handle but in some scenarios, it will be the other way around. This is why you need to make a flexible work model so that you can scale your operations up or down without having to sell/buy assets and hire/fire people. This is especially particular for those industries where season peak is far superior to the rest of the year.
In conclusion
Finally, what good is it to get your business back on its feet if you’re going to land in the same situation once again in several months. You need to learn how not to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. This is why the above-listed four suggestions are so important. By learning to diagnose the problem, grow professionally and better manage your finances, you’ll have much better odds. A flexible business model only gives the success of your business that one additional layer of insulation.
