What To Do When Your Business Is Failing Badly
In this post today, I am going to talk very seriously about what to do if you are failing because you WILL at some point. We ALL will.
I will show you how you could SAVE your business today and make a firm decision about its future.
According to some 'marketing gurus' out there, around 98%of businesses FAIL in the first five years. There was a time when you could have said to yourself, 'if I could just get over the first year, I will be ok.' Wrong. You CAN get through your first year and at some point you might even make a profit, but the BIG chances are, is that you will be out of business soon enough.
So, I have a theory of EXACTLY why this happens and it boils down to two things:
1. You run out of money meaning you can't afford to support your expensive hobby anymore.
2. You take on a heck of a lot of bad advice from people who have secretly, also failed.
So, what can you do about it?
There are only two options to take with the brown stuff hits the fan (as it will do at some point for ALL of us)
You either:
1. Give up on the whole thing, do some growing and get back to working as an employee again (I think I would rather boil my own head.)
2. Cut the rubbish out of your business that is costing you money and killing your business.
It is fair to say that what we ALL do each day is killing our businesses. We sit in front of our laptops banging out articles, posts, spending money on Bing Ads, Facebook etc etc but NONE of it is actually making us any money.
So, STOP.
If you want to save what little business you have, take a good hard look at what works. If none of it is working. GIVE UP and start again somewhere else.
What you can't do is keep pouring down the drain endless amounts of cash on something that has no future. Many of us here WILL fail.
So the lesson today is:
Take what DOES work and do that only. Nothing else.
Even if it's just writing a little blog post every day or every other day, if it makes you a buck here and there, it's WORKING. So do that and cut out everything else. Even if it doesn't feel as though you should. Unless you are a millionaire (and even then, the money will run out eventually) you CANNOT keep wasting money forever.
So, if you are at the point of giving up today, this week or even considering getting a proper job in the New Year, take one last attempt and follow this advice from someone who knows.
So, now I ask you to be brutally honest in your comments on this post. Are you failing? Will you admit that you're struggling? Have you considered giving up and going back to work? Will you be strong enough to cut through the 'hey, my business is great!' When actually it isn't?
I want to hear from you and be brave!
Recent Comments
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Find a good mentor Michelle and make part time business full time. Here is Michael the master of WA Steampunk! https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/ultimateless
I think success is a broad term. I've been for a while now and haven't made much. I've also chased a few shinny objects. I think its a phase every marketer goes through. However when I look back at how much I've learned over this period, I must say I have found some success.
As for giving up. ME. NEVER. Hell will have to freeze over. There is no way am going to spend the rest of my life driving trucks.
That's very good advice. I've recommended this many times to others and had to do this to myself. Give yourself (or have someone who is knowledgeable, brutally honest, and trustworthy) an honest assessment, and cut your losses fast, unless there is an aspect of your business that truly is working.
Stop bleeding money and move on to the next thing, until you find something that DOES work for you, makes you a buck.
It's good to have a reality check. We all want to succeed on our first project right out of the gate, but that may not be the case. You constantly need to assess and re-assess where you are at financially and with customers. Step back, find out what works and what needs changing, maybe a different social media strategy, maybe a new social media platform, maybe a new domain name, maybe a new color scheme or presentation style, etc.
I failed on my first attempt. I picked a bad domain name. I stepped back, assessed my options and then proceeded with the same niche using what I learned NOT to do in the first one. It is still early but I am trying to get everything I have learned in the training in place so I can start marketing my products and information. Hopefully the second time around is a winner!
I believe without a failure (or two) I cannot truly enjoy success and a feeling of accomplishment. I have failed many times in my projects and have come back even stronger perhaps with a vengeance. My knowledge, resolve and character have grown and I now feel empowered to master this project!
Don't let a failure define you or kill your dreams. You can recover and there are lots of people here at WA to help you right-side your ship. Yes, constantly assess your situation, know when to change direction, but keep your resolve and utilize those resources!
Wishing everyone a successful journey!