3 Signs Your Business is On Its Last Leg

When you first considered starting your own business, you thought nothing could possibly go wrong. You had so much hope for the future. But, things are a lot more complicated than that. You start to think the worst - your business is failing, and you don’t know what to do about it. When times get hard, do you throw in the towel, or persevere?

You can gauge the state of your business by taking an honest look at these three important topics.

It’s All About Attitude
Let’s face it. If you don’t absolutely love what you are doing, you won’t have the push needed to drive your business forward. It’s this lack of passion that often can drive the final nail in the coffin of small startups. If you just don’t feel how you used to about your ideas and concepts that built the company, your clients and employees will be able to tell, and it will affect them and the decisions they make concerning your business. If you really love what you are doing, then you will work to make it happen at all costs.

There are some things you can try to get yourself back on track. As the business owner, what are you doing with this business? If you think about what you are trying to accomplish, the answer could determine just how much passion you have left for your profession. If that doesn’t work, try taking some time off to gather your thoughts. Maybe you’ll figure out what’s got you so stuck in the first place.

Indifferent Clients
Perhaps one of the worst possible scenarios is that everything is set and ready to go, but the customers just aren’t buying it. In this case, you need to change something. Maybe your marketing strategy could use some work, or your product needs to change a bit. The trick is to find the fine line between client attention and your own personal goals.

Unfortunately, nobody is going to like your product as much as you do. As an entrepreneur, that’s a truth. Your idea is your child, and you want to see it grow and succeed; but if nobody cares, it won’t have that opportunity. Turn your efforts toward studying the market more in-depth, and understand your customers’ opinions of the product. Only then can you manage to get your business back on its feet.

Go Down With Your Ship
Sometimes, founding a company just isn’t in the cards. The stars are unaligned ever so slightly. Basically, we’re talking about fate, or rather, the market; something that you can’t really do anything about. Perhaps you simply misjudged the market or the demand for your product.

It all comes down to being honest with yourself. How much has the market changed since you first created your business plan? It’s time for some personal reflection. Only then can you come to terms with an exit strategy. If you can bail out via acquisition, that might not be a bad idea, but not all companies have that luxury.

Of course, we believe that arming your business with the right solutions is a big way to provide a needed boost to get you out of a rut. Before you pull the plug on a venture that you were once oh-so-passionate about, give Directive a call at 607.433.2200 to find out if there are technology solutions that can better meet your needs and make operations easier.