You may have heard some form of the saying “But what if I fall, but what if you fly” bouncing around in various different forms. It’s often a quote that is referred to when you are feeling a little downhearted or lacking that self-belief in some area of your life. We can all feel that feeling in the pit of your stomach when doubt creeps in to try and hinder our chances of success. This title says it all. In business, there will be times when you ask, what if you fail? But the question to bounce back is, but what if I succeed? However, there are always going to be stumbling blocks in your business journey that can be your downfall, so rather than focusing on failure, I thought an article highlighting some of the common pitfalls could be advisable to help you succeed instead. With all that in mind, here are some of the key areas of business that can be your downfall or reason for failure and how best to combat the situations.
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Cash flow problems
Cash is king, we hear this a lot, but in business, if you don’t get a handle on your cash flow it can be your one of your biggest downfalls. Invoicing out to customers often means that you enable a payment window, of which many businesses will take full advantage of. Cash can also become scarce if you subsequently pay off your own invoices to quickly, instead of taking advantage of payment windows yourself. Cash flow issues can be rectified or predicted, and this is when an accounts team, or outsourcing your accounts to companies like Qdos Accounting Company could work in your favour. This eliminates any surprises and certainly enables you to predict as an when cash flow in your business could be a problem. Giving you time to rectify the situation.
A poor growth speed
Another problem within a business is the business growth speed, or better interpreted not moving the business forward fast enough. But there can be an instance where you grow too quickly which surprisingly can also be a problem. Not growing fast enough means that you are potentially spending money but not having the return of customers to sustain it. Growing too quickly means you have the money but not necessarily the products or the manpower to fulfill. It is finding that fine balance that makes a business successful. A good business plan and regular accounts reviews should help you stay on track.
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The woes of competition within the industry
Never underestimate your competition. There will always be someone or some business doing something similar or trying to bring you down. It can be hard to not focus your attention on this, but the moment you take your eye off your business and look at theirs, is the moment that your competition has the upper hand. Keep a close eye on your competition but don’t put your sole focus on it and keep in mind that you have your own business to steer in the direction that you want to take. Some competition can be healthy, and in some ways, it should empower you and motivate to do better.
I hope that this helps you to move your business forward to success and avoiding some of the common reasons for failure.