5 Signs that your company is dying

For an entrepreneur the death of his business is as tragic as a death in his family. He would have spent so much energy and resources into building it up from scratch and it is practically like his baby. But in most cases this tragic demise is inevitable, still if identified early, countermeasures can be taken to further delay or overcome this. There are so many different triggers and the only way to fight back is by identifying the symptoms early. Irrespective of the sector or the vertical your business is in, the symptoms always seem to remain common. Let us go through some of the most prominent symptoms.

Lower demand

Round the year the demand for products or services would not stand the same. There are periods with more demand and periods with lesser demand. Most of the companies follow this pattern. But if the demand is low and it is falling lower every passing month without recovery then you have a serious problem. When this happens, do not wait for more than a quarter to work out a remedy. Try to understand the issue, analyze it and take necessary steps to overcome it. Innovation and reinvention of products, service offerings, and business model can help in reviving the demand.

Unresponsive customers and partners

The customers and the partners are not showing as much interest in your company as they used to. If they have a passive sort of response to your existing and upcoming products, then be sure you are in trouble. The chances are that they are giving up on your company and soon they will move into a partnership with one of your competitors. Sit with them, engage them and try to understand why this is so. Once you understand what you are doing wrong then you might have the opportunity to undo it and give your company a second chance.

Expenses out weighing income

For a few months this is fine, but beyond that it will be an issue. It will start eating into your reserve and once this is on a roll there is no way but out. For a startup this will be an instantaneous disaster and for a big company the investors and shareholders will soon start tightening their grip. It is about time you track your spending, derive the pattern and cut short any spending that is not going to affect the functioning of the company.

Uncontrollable and ever increasing employee attrition

You cannot hide from your employees that your company is struggling; it is only a matter of time before they start to realize the real situation. Once they do they will start jumping from your company, accelerating its demise. The best approach is to let them know early and to ask them for their cooperation to get the company past the struggling phase and to its previous glory.

Too much time, too little work

You see that majority of your employees are sitting in your office goggling and social networking as they do not have any work, then it is high time you take a closer look at your company. The company will surely be reaching its final days unless you act quickly. As mentioned before analyze your company, scrutinize it and try to figure out what is working and what is not, then fix it accordingly.