It seems that we are in the middle of a very mild sign making turnaround. Perhaps you have noticed this, or soon will. But make no mistake, even with a mild uptick, it still takes a lot of work and attention to detail just to stay even. As we mentioned before, a key issue is controlling your costs.
The last few years haven't been easy on anyone. If your business is struggling, do you hang on for more positive days in the future? Or is it best to cut your losses and get out today?
Facing closing your business is a very scary thing. If you have come to the point where you are thinking you have to close down your sign shop take into consideration the following suggestions. They may help you to keep your business open for a bit longer while either figuring out another solution to save your business or at least managing to close things down on your own terms.
- Move out of a storefront. Even if you have to get out of your rental agreement, negotiating a move out or buying yourself out of the lease, it's beneficial in the long run. You may have decided previously that you couldn't afford to break your contract, but when it comes down to closing up or moving out, moving out is the better option. If you can move your business into your home do it quickly.
- Reduce staff. Letting employees go is one of the hardest things for small business to do, particularly because the staff always tends to be so close knit. Remember that it's nothing personal; this is about keeping your business alive. If you have to let friends go think of it as a business decision, and remind them of the same. Hopefully your employees will be able to recognize that.
- Sell the business. I understand this bit of advice doesn't really coincide with saving your business. However, if you aren't quite at the point of going out of business you may be able to sell the business and get back some of the initial investment, instead of going bankrupt. This opens up the door for you to explore other avenues of business as opposed to leaving you in financial ruin.
Maybe by taking action early you can put your business on course to continue to navigate the current economic storm.
I'd love to hear what you have done to set your business up for success. Please feel free to share your ideas in the comments section below.
