If your business is failing:
It’s not because one thing is wrong.
Usually many things are wrong.
—(paraphrasing) Jay Goeltz, The New York Times Small Business blogger
We know all about “wrong” and the pain that comes from it.
There is a silver lining. There is always a figure-it-out angle to be found, if you’re determined to find it. Always.
Why am I so sure?
Think of it this way. If there are an infinite amount of things “wrong” with your business, there are also an infinite amount of solutions.
Some solutions are (temporarily) out of reach (e.g., they cost time/financial/intellectual resources you don’t yet have). Some require you to answer the hard questions. The kind of questions that touch the soft spots, that threaten to capsize your sense of self (e.g. if I fail at this, am I automatically a failure at everything?) These are the moments to tap into your resolve; the moments where the big talkers walk and the doers do.
Here’s what you do.
First, fail fast. Fail often.
This is not pithy advice. Look at your business critically. What isn’t working? Eliminate it. This is not a failure. This is a survival tactic. Eliminating the people and/or parts that aren’t working will clear the way to focus and grow the elements that are working. Be ruthless. Eliminate the people, strategies, product, location, or anything else that is not serving the goal of your business’s survival.
Example: We started our business as minority owners with another couple. It was quickly clear that a) they didn’t have the knowledge, experience, capacity, or work ethic required and b) — worse — couldn’t stand each other. At great risk and expense to the business we cut them loose (luckily, right before they imploded in a messy divorce).
We also started with a commission-based business model. It was garbage. We threw it out. That’s a story for another day that’s not as juicy and gossipy as the first but just as critical. As is said, “no business plan survives first contact with customers”.
Everything has a solution.
Scale and simplify.
Some businesses will fail because they are too small to generate the income necessary. Micropolitan businesses are at a special risk of this, I think, because many want to serve a relatively narrow band of customers. Are there enough specialty customers for your specialty business? (I’m a fan of specialty, by the way, but think “specialty” must be approached differently than is typically approached in a bigger, more populous markets.)
Example: Being too small almost killed us. We were too small to generate the retail product turnover necessary, and our customer base was too small. We recognized this and made numerous adjustments — which I plan to share in greater detail if you’re interested.
Conversely, a business will also fail because it is too big. Big, not just in physical scale but also “too big” in terms of complication clutter. Complications relating to service, product, delivery, etc., just make it harder. It is better to drastically cut back and appear “too small” than suffocate under “too big”. Scale back if necessary. Small is beautiful.
Expand or contract. Streamline. Simplify. You have to mold to the market.
Everything has a solution.
Re-evaluate expectations. Your own and others.
Who says your business must be X, or do Y? Must serve customers Z, not Q?
Don’t needlessly confuse customers by reaching for two unrelated things. (“We’re a barbecue restaurant, and your #1 source for tropical fish supplies!”) If you think I’m joking, I’m not. When we moved here there was a tv ad in rotation touting a local restaurant and attached tanning salon. Ick to the ick! I don’t even know how that combo was legal!
I understand the desperation this owner must have felt, and how this tv ad was a last-ditch effort to make any money at all. I made terrible fun of it at the time, but now, I just think it’s really sad.
Sometimes, you are too close to the forest to see the trees. Make sure someone can point out the trees. Especially if they are about to fall on you.
How? Seek out advisors who will give it to you straight-up. No one is doing you a favor “being nice.” Let’s mark our calendars and talk about how to find these advisors another day.
When in doubt: give.
This advice came from Felix Dennis, one of Britian’s wealthiest men in his aptly named book: How to Get Rich. This is a great and funny book and provides a very smart p.o.v., too. Giving, in practice, can be difficult if you’re struggling. I assure you, though, it works.
It works two ways. First, on a practical side, it strengthens your relationships with customers. The law of reciprocity kicks in and they want to give back in return. Don’t abuse this human tendency. More importantly — secondly — giving forces you to take stock of what you already have. Be grateful. Share. Give if only for the good feeling it gives you. It really works.
Give without expecting it to come back and it will… it always does.
Everything has a solution.
Say it with me:
Everything has a solution.
You can figure it out.
Image by gibffe
