There are a lot of businesses failing at the moment. The frustrating thing is, in a lot of cases the owner couldn’t do much to stop it happening. Lockdown, quarantine and Covid 19 have completely stopped any sales happening for some certain businesses and the future outlook is also bleak, with many models suggesting that there will be an economic fallout and recession not seen for decades. This kind of environment isn’t always great to trade in and can of course be bad for business. Yet, there are ways you can put your business back from the brink and save it. Every business is different, and there will be certain things that will help or won’t help in yours. These slightly generic tips can help you get started, from which you can go into more bespoke research.

Cut Costs Now

If you can see danger on the horizon it might be time to start cutting costs in anticipation. Don’t wait until it’s too late or until the impact is lessened. Do it now. Have a look at what you’re paying for and see if you can get anything reduced. Bills are a good place to start. The sooner you start the less likely you’ll be claiming bankruptcy. See if you can negotiate and reduce rents, look at utilities payments. Think about your suppliers too and see whether there’s a chance you can reduce any prices. You might not get anywhere, but you’ll never know until you try. If you explain your plight a lot of places might agree to reduce price or volume rather than lose a buyer in the long term. Start with the highest bill and move back from there.

Explore New Avenues

An important decision to make is whether or not you can invest time and maybe money into new selling points. For example, with Covid a lot of businesses have temporarily shut, especially brick and mortar stores. Explore new avenues. Think about online. Can your business be moved to an online platform at least until things blow over? Think about the new people you can reach if you’re based online. You might open your business up to an entirely new set of customers. It might not be right for you, but at least consider the opportunity.

Reduce Staff Levels

Wages are one of the biggest overheads out there. They’re also the one thing you won’t want to decrease because people’s livelihoods are on the line. If you get to the point where you have to, consider asking people to take unpaid leave first. It might just give you the time you need to claw back some trade and get into a good position. If you do have to make redundancies make sure you do it in a way that’s completely legal and proper. Otherwise, you might be opening yourself and your business up towards a lawsuit. Be extremely tactful, and don’t do it unless you’re absolutely sure because you could be losing great staff which you won’t be able to get back.