Does your business need a survival plan?

Answer yes…

– If your business is leaking money.

– You have a shortage of customers.

– Your industry is under threat.

And even if you have answered no, your business might still need a survival plan. You might be experiencing success today, but that could all change in the not-too distant future.

No matter how your business is doing then, we recommend you think about a survival plan to ensure you stay afloat. Be it urgently needed, or something that remains in the back of your mind, you might want to consider the following when thinking about a survival plan.

1. Consider your problems

What is or what could threaten your business survival?

Are you leaking money? Do you have a lack of customers? Is your industry becoming irrelevant? List the issues that are relevant to your business, and then look for ways to counter the problems facing you. We have some ideas within this article, but the onus is on you to ask for help and refocus your strategies to help you keep going.

The sooner you identify any issues, the better.

2. Seek support from those who can help you

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Should you be in crisis (or near-crisis) mode, you need to look for those people who can help you.

For long-term solutions, you might want to bring in a consultancy firm. There may be flaws within your business, and a consultant will be able to help you pinpoint them and move forwards. WGroup IT Management consulting are expertly placed to support you with your IT needs, for example, with industry leaders able to help you use IT to reach your business objectives, and to fix any problems that may be prevalent in your company.

You might also draw on the strength of your employees. They may have solutions for the issues at hand, so draw them into a meeting and pool your ideas together.

There may be specific areas of help needed, such as an accountant to help you stay on top of your business finances, or a friend within your industry who can closely identify a strategy to help you with your particular problems. Speak to them and draw on their skills and experiences.

Speak to whoever you need to, being unafraid to share your problems and admit any weaknesses within your business.

3. Take action where necessary

Considering the problems facing you, it is important to tackle them head on before matters get any worse. With the issues we raised earlier, you might focus on the following.

If you are leaking money, you need to find ways to cut costs. Go through every area of your business and look at where savings might be made. You might want to opt for cheaper alternatives to your regular business supplier, for example, and you might want to cancel anything that is unnecessarily bleeding money, such as subscriptions to trade journals. You will need to implement good habits around your business, and with the aid of your accountant, monitor all financial activities until you are sure you have saved all that you can.

If your business is suffering from a lack of customers, then you are also going to face a reduction in your profits. Now is the time to win back previous customers, go back to the drawing board to assess your marketing strategies, and encourage your sales and marketing teams to work harder to meet targets. Create an action plan for each, and consider bringing in a specialist marketing team to help you identify any weaknesses that may be prevalent within your business. By outsourcing to them, despite the expense, they will also be able to help you create a better marketing strategy going forward.

If your industry is in danger of becoming irrelevant , then you might need to change your focus. For example, those of you in the paper industry may have cause to worry now that most things are being digitized, so it might be important to shift your focus. Could you diversify your business? Could you partner with somebody else? Are there any other revenue streams that are relevant to you? You need to think quickly, perhaps by speaking to other industry professionals for expert advice and future projections.

The worst thing you can do is nothing, so be proactive, look at what you need to do to improve your situation, and then take action.

Finally

List your problems. Ask for help. Find ways to take action and move forwards.

By doing each of these things, you may be able to survive and move on, no matter the problem facing you.

We wish you the best of luck moving forwards.