What are the best small business survival strategies for entrepreneurs? How do you keep your business from failing? Well, I advise you to read on.
Regarding business failures, errors in sales and management issues. I bet I have written a lot on this corporate blog with regard to these topics. So, today I want to talk strictly about how to prevent your business from failing.
Statistics show that 99% of all businesses that have started have failed within their first five years. But, what is the cause of such a business failure rate? I can’t answer this because I have explained all of this in the previous articles, just check them out and read.
In this article, I just want to share with you how you can get your business off the 99% failure list. I want to share tips that will help you prevent your business from failing. If you’re ready to learn, below are eight ways to prevent your business from going into crisis.
Small Business Survival: How To Avoid Your Business Failure
1. Prepare for failure
Preventing your business from failing starts with you as the entrepreneur because the survival of your business rests solely on your shoulders. Prepare for failure, but do everything in your power to avoid failure and you will never fail. One of the main reasons entrepreneurs fail is that they fear failure, which prevents them from trying new innovations in their business.
As an entrepreneur, I would advise you to prepare yourself to deal with failure in case it appears. Preparing your mind for failure will help you bounce back from success quickly when you fall. Another way to prepare and prevent failure is to keep learning how to build a business. The business world is dynamic, so you don’t have to be static. After all, entrepreneurship is a process, a journey, not a destination. Use every free time to learn something and increase your knowledge. It will help your business in the long run.
2. Pay attention to the decisions you make
You are an entrepreneur and that makes you the pilot of your business. Therefore, the survival of your business tomorrow depends on the decision you make today. So don’t make hasty decisions. if you are in doubt about the effect of a decision you are going to make, discuss it with professionals before going to bed. Even if that means seeking advice from outside advisers, do it. Advice from an experienced professional can prevent your business from failing.
3. Monitor your cash flow
Cash flow is the life of business and I believe you’ve heard it a few times. Always keep an eye on the cash flow and work closely with your accounting department in order to keep your cash flow strong. Effective management of cash flow is the foundation for business growth.
Make sure there is a continuous flow of money into your business, even if it means making some strategic moves on your creditors, debtors, suppliers, customers, and investors. A business with poor cash flow management or consistent negative cash flow is as good as dead.
4. Move your business quickly with the trend
On countless occasions, I have learned from successful entrepreneurs that the trend is a friend, not an enemy and I believe it is the truth. Your ability as an entrepreneur to quickly align your business with the changing trend can be a competitive advantage for your business.
Be quick to transport your business with the current industrial trend or innovation. Taking advantage of all of the available trends can help keep your business on track and keep it from running. Remember, the trend is your friend.
5. Increase your sales and marketing budget
One of the false mistakes most managers make during a recession or declining sales is cutting the marketing budget. Instead of reducing the marketing budget, I advise you to spend more on marketing. Instead of hiding, I will advise you to do some marketing and let your customers know that you will support them, while letting the competition know that you are still in the game.
6. Build good relationships with your employees
Your employees are part of your business so treat them the way you want them to treat your business. Sometimes surprise them by sending them an unexpected birthday present or by acknowledging their extra efforts in the presence of other staff members. If possible, offer incentives and promotions to staff with outstanding performance. It will encourage them and motivate others to strive for excellence.
7. Hire employees slowly but fire them quickly
Hire the right people in sensitive positions. You will know they are the right people after you test them. Never compromise the quality of your staff for the sake of cutting cost; It will hurt your business in the long run. Another rule of thumb to prevent your business from failing is to lay people off quickly.
Don’t hesitate to let go of bad members of your staff. If you don’t remove them quickly, they will influence or demoralize other good employees with their bad attitude and, inevitably, your good employees might leave.
8. Take care of your existing customers
Do you know that your customers are the best asset of your business? Without them, your business will not exist. From the analyzes performed by the marketing experts, it has been revealed that it costs more effort and resources to find new customers than to keep existing ones.
If your customers abandon your business, is it going afloat? I’ll let you answer the question. What you need to know; existing customers are the most important key to the survival of small businesses. Treat them with care and they will explain to you the wonderful experience you gave them.
One of my small business survival strategies during my early days of startup was to stay loyal to our customers. My team and I built a closer relationship with customers, provided excellent service, and handled customer complaints with top priority.
We did this because we knew the implication of losing a client and alongside that our competitors were looking for an opportunity to whip our clients so that we had to be on guard. If you want to learn how to keep your customers loyal and happy, the articles below will come in handy.
I believe that with these few small business survival strategies you can prevent your own from failing. Always remember that your chance of failing or succeeding in business is entirely up to you, so be wise.
