The Vegan Business Tribe Podcast episode 127
How to rescue your failing business
What to do if your business is failing and how to turn it around. We know that it takes time, hard work and tenacity to make a business successful. But what if there’s no light at the end of a tunnel and the money is running out?
David’s been there. In this episode, he shares the 8 steps which will first slow the decline and then help you to turn your business around. That is going to mean facing-up to some hard realities about your business and taking what might feel like a step backwards in order to take a huge leap forwards.
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🙏With thanks to our sponsors:
🧮 Vegan Accountants: Use an accountant that understands your ethics and mission as a vegan business.
www.veganaccountants.co.uk
📢 MAD Promotions: The vegan PR agency. Dedicated to getting your vegan business in the news.
www.mad-promotions.com
Listen to the audio-only version:
Download the MP3 of this episode by clicking on the share link above.
The big takeaway from this episode:
- Find out the reality of your situation. You need to have an accurate picture of where you actually are so that you can make informed decisions. Having an accurate cashflow forecast in place means you know when the money is likely to run out – or it might even show you that it’s not as bad as you were worrying. And if you need more information, go back and listen to episode 67 of this podcast .
- Take immediate action. Do not stick your head in the sand. If you need to make cuts then cut deep and swift. Don’t be afraid to strip your business right back so that you can get it financially under control and then build back stronger.
- Extend your runway. The longer you can give yourself to make changes in your business the more chance you have of keeping that business going. Are you owed money you can collect? Or do you need to go find other income such as getting a part-time job to make sure your personal bills are covered and to take some financial pressure off the company.
- If you know you need to close the business, don’t leave that decision too long. If you’re certain that this idea just hasn’t worked out and you’re going to move on then don’t just put the decision to close a business off for another 6 months. Ideally, you want to close down a business gracefully. Taking action sooner means that you’re not just digging yourself further into a hole.
- Have agency and put your prices up! We sometimes forget that we’re the person in charge. So if you don’t like something or come to the decision that something isn’t working, then you can change it and that includes how much you charge. If your business is failing because you are simply not charging enough to make a profit, then you will go out of business and not be able to make the change in the world you are trying to make.
- Revisit your value proposition. Admitting that the problem is your actual product can be a really hard thing to do. But you need to ask yourself, is the problem you solve a big enough problem for strangers to give you money to solve it? Or has the market has moved on and you haven’t?
- Go back to a start-up mentality. Your job as an entrepreneur is to prove or disprove a business idea whilst spending as little time, energy and money on it as possible. So, if you’ve now bought yourself extra time to pivot or make changes in your business, don’t now waste that time heading straight down another dead-end. Create an MVP, or Minimal Viable Product of your idea and see if you can get people to buy that first before investing more time, money and energy in the idea.
- Consider collaborations and partnerships. There are so many duplicated costs that can be saved if you collaborate with other businesses, from doing joint marketing together to sharing space and resources. And if you are both talking to the same customers, then there are even more savings to be made.
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