Businesses start to decay while they appear to be on plateau. However, at some point, significant and consistent falls in sales start to occur due to the owner ceasing to invest in the renewal of their business.
At some point the business starts to lay off staff and reduce their services, until they only have a few customers and staff remaining. Friends really. They may even continue for some time while making losses, out of habit, and perhaps, pride.
The owner may start to look for someone to buy their business, but there is nothing to sell. They are their business. Their family wants nothing to do with the business. Their staff are only hanging about for a payout.
They start to blame the economy, the government, imports, staff, even customers. Turnaround at this point is rare. Although not impossible. but the type of changes necessary are radical, and can be costly. Such changes require a commitment that most owners at this stage no longer have. After all, if you believe someone else is to blame, you also believe that its up to someone else to do something, not you. So all their efforts are focused on the impossible task of making everyone else change, rather than the simpler (if not easy) task of changing themselves.
This continues until they get a call from their accountant one day to say, you can’t go on paying people to be your customers.
The psychological position of owners at this stage is that they are unwilling to invest in the effort required to make the necessary changes. The point of outlining this phase here is not to try and elicit business for Empower Business Solutions from this group, because quite frankly they are no longer seeking advice. The purpose of documenting this phase is to complete the picture and to ensure businesses at earlier, recoverable stages are aware of the final stages of a business’ lifecycle so that they can take action well before this stage is reached.
For further information on the Lifecycle of Business request a Free Preview copy of The Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success.
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Sally & Michael
Business Owners
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