5 SIGNS YOUR BUSINESS MIGHT BE IN TROUBLE

5 SIGNS YOUR BUSINESS MIGHT BE IN TROUBLE

The New Year is a time for reflection and resolution. For many business owners, it is a time to check your books and decide what business practices to leave behind in the previous year. January is the least busy month for many businesses, as customers often take a post-holiday break from spending.

For some business owners, this month may be the first chance they get to look at the signs around them – and the signs might not look good. As you are evaluating where your business currently stands, here are five clues that things might be troubled:

Your Bills Are Piling Up. This may be the most obvious example of trouble on the horizon, and yet so many business owners tend to ignore it. If you aren’t paying your bills on time, you need to identify what the issue is and how to fix it. It is often a cash flow problem – that your outgoing expenses are higher than your incoming profit. It can also be an issue with not tracking when your bills are due or dealing with inventory issues.

You’ve Lost Major Clients. All businesses have major clients, whether they think of them in those terms or not. If some of your favorite customers or highest spending clients have disappeared, it is not a good sign. These brand loyalists will normally be honest with you. Try asking them what changed in your business to drive them away.

You’re Having Trouble Hiring. It is not just about getting applicants – it is about people wanting the job after they come in to look at it. Potential employees are looking at a lot of businesses and can tell when a negative culture is affecting the place. If you feel the quality of applicants you’re seeing is lower than usual, try to figure out why.

Morale is Low. The atmosphere of your workplace is indicative of the inner lives of the employees. If morale is low and your employees seem tired and disinterested at work, it means they simply are not happy with the way the business is going.

You’re Waiting On a Big Break. If you find yourself frequently saying “We just need to get this thing and then we’ll be perfect,” that might be a warning sign. A business should be in a strong enough place where it does not need a cash boost to make it another month. If you are always waiting on a big payday to come along and bail you out, there may be larger issues at play.

Reevaluating your business is important. If you are suddenly realizing that your business might be in trouble, not everything is doom and gloom. Understanding things are bad is the first step to turning it around. If you need help with your business, contact the Law Office of Tanika L. Finney today. We are ready to fight for you!