In the early days of a business, everything is fresh. There’s possibility in the air, and the only way is up. For the first months, or even years, a new enterprise is propelled by momentous excitement. Some businesses continue to soar, even past this exciting stage.
For some, though, disaster strikes. Those sales which came from an initial fascination with the product never come to anything, and funding runs dry. For many a business owner, this is the stuff of nightmares. It’s also the stage at which they vow to give up. So, you gave it your best shot, but it didn’t work out.
Onwards and upwards, right? Wrong. While we all need to set goals about how far we’re willing to go, giving up should never be your first port of call. It’s not rare for business to struggle a little once you’re off the ground. But, that doesn’t mean you should shut up shop. Instead, we’ve come up with a list of ideas to help you rise from the ashes.
REVAMP YOUR BRAND
Reigniting your business may be as simple as revamping your brand. It’s a good way to catch attention again, and it may help you gain back your initial excitement. Revamping at this stage isn’t a bad idea in general. By now, your thoughts about how business work should have developed from when you started.
You may look at your original branding and consider it amateur and embarrassing. So, change it! Reinvent your logo, and change your color schemes. Develop new advertising campaigns. In a lot of ways, this is a risky strategy. After all, your customers have just got to know who you are, so why change?
In truth, though, if you’re thinking about giving up anyway, you have nothing to lose. In a lot of ways, that can be incredibly liberating.
IMPROVE YOUR PRODUCT
Any business should be forever improving its product. Otherwise, why would customers return? Being a one trick pony is no way to success. But, if things are going wrong, you may need to take this to extremes.
If your product isn’t selling, there’s usually a good reason for it. People are willing to pay for products they believe in. At the moment, they don’t believe in yours. Consider the product itself, and your pricing. Is there any way you can make the product better? Are there any extra items you could start selling? Maybe something that will enhance your primary product? Or, your lack of sales may be caused by something as simple as a pricing issue. Return to the drawing board, and look at what similar businesses are charging. If their prices are a lot less, it’s no surprise things have gone wrong.
Maybe something that will enhance your primary product? Or, your lack of sales may be caused by something as simple as a pricing issue. Return to the drawing board, and look at what similar businesses are charging. If their prices are a lot less, it’s no surprise things have gone wrong.
DEAL WITH YOUR FINANCES
At the end of the day, a lack of funds is the main reason you’re struggling. If money isn’t coming in, you’ll struggle to produce your product, let alone pay wages, rent, and bills. Worse, you probably can’t afford an accountant to help you out! If you want any chance of continuing, you need to take control of this issue. Take the time to work out exactly how much money is coming in and going out.
Move forward from there. If you’re going to struggle to pay bills, something like an ato payment arrangement could help. This will make things easier to manage until you’re back on your feet. It’s a hard decision to make, but it may also be time to let a few of your team go. It’s not a reality any boss likes to face, but they’ll lose their jobs anyway if you keep paying wages you can’t afford. Provide them with notice if you can, or offer severance pay. And, make sure they know you’ll go to them first when you do reach the point of employing again.
WORK LIKE YOU’RE JUST STARTING OUT
If things aren’t going according to plan, it can be hard to keep momentum. As such, you may start to do business differently. But, if you’ve lost passion for your project, what are your customers supposed to think?
The easiest way to reignite your project is to approach it like you’re just starting out. Instead of admitting defeat, see this as a new challenge. The chances are, you overcome a few barriers when getting started. Do the same here.
Approach everything with excitement. Get back into the habit of seeing possibility at every turn. A lackluster performance is no way to make things work!
