How to save a failing business

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JT Ripton gives some advice on saving a failing business.

Once a business begins to see downturn, many owners think it’s time to file for bankruptcy to recover some financial losses. Even if your business is seeing some trouble, there’s always a chance to save it before taking a drastic measure to close the business. Try these five steps before you call up lawyers and banks.

Change your SEO tactics

Keeping up with SEO tactics helps your company stay relevant. Just this year, Google changed the way their SEO keywords worked. This could be a big part of why your business is not getting many customers and seeing trouble. Google doesn’t let companies get keyword data from their visitors. This prohibits the user from understaning the trends and interests of their site visitors.

This change in Google also causes a loss of knowledge about conversion rates. Learning the new SEO tactics will help you stay relevant in the market without spending a ton of money on marketing.

Cut corners in your budget

You need to cut out all unnecessary expenses to keep the business afloat. Go back to the budget you had when you started the business, allowing for a little more wiggle room that accounts for the growth you have experience. One of the best ways to cut on operating costs is to compare your electric rates with local electricity companies to make sure you are getting the best rates. Electricity is the biggest overhead cost that companies go through, and finding cheaper rates could be what saves your business.

Even though you need to cut the budget, don’t cut anything from the employees. Keep free coffee in the break room and make sure to supply donuts or lunch during a long meeting. Do this even if it’s out of your own pocket. This will help keep your employees happy with the company. A positive attitude from employees will do wonders to keep your business working.

Protect the company’s assets

Over time, businesses invest in many places and can lose track of those investments. With the company going through trouble, you need to dig up every place that you have investment in and see how well the investment is doing. These investments need to be guarded closely to maximise their potential value.

Companies also loan a lot of money out over the course of their lives. Now is the time to be annoying and knock down doors to get your money back. You’ll need every penny to pay off the bills that are piling up. If you’re out of extra cash to pay bills, delay paying them as long as possible without getting in financial trouble. If part of your business trouble comes from insecure IT, then it is a good idea to consider hosting your company’s server in a secure place. Server hosting is cost-effective and completely secure. When your IT infrastructure is what’s causing you problems, it’s worth the small investment to acquire secure server hosting.

Stop letting worry control your decision-making

It’s completely understandable that you’re worried about a thousand different things when your business is having trouble. But don’t let worry dictate your decision-making. Deeply consider the implications of filing for bankruptcy. Stop worrying about the financial ruin you might face if your business goes under. There are many ways you can recover financial damages if your business does close, but for now worry is only distracting you from finding solutions to your current problems.

Owners need to be the best leaders

When business owners lead, others will follow. Define the destination and what direction you’ll take to successfully get to your goal. Tell your employees, customers, and partners this plan.

Continuously develop skills to take your business to a new plateau. When your company is having trouble, it’s also important to get involved in day-to-day operations. This is how you can see first hand what is going wrong and what needs to be fixed.

It’s difficult when you realise your business is failing. But it’s not the end of the road. Following these steps will help you improve your business and get it back on track.

*JT Ripton is a freelance writer out who enjoys writing about a myriad of topics, business and parenting being a couple of them. JT occasionally writes for several sites and blogs and you can follow him on Twitter @JTRipton