Warning signs your business may be in trouble

 The collapse of high street chains such as Comet, HMV and Blockbuster have served to demonstrate that even established brands are not secure within the current financial climate.

A number of businesses, regardless of size, may be assessing their current position as they try to figure out whether or not they need to start making contingency plans for the near future.

Falling sales

Falling sales are a definite sign that your business needs to consider what direction it is heading in. A warning sign that sales are about to drop is if people have stopped talking about your company – or if what they are saying is negative. If you are not getting any new business, or if profits are steadily declining, take this as an advanced warning that your business is potentially in trouble.

Vital signs

When was the last time you checked your vital signs monitor? Some of the key vital signs for a business include turnover, average order value, productivity rates, employee accuracy, costs, returns and margins. Rapid fluctuations among any of these vital components of your business could indicate that you need to make changes.

Fading Morale

When so much focus is concentrated on the inner workings of the business itself, and on the customers, it is easy to forget about your staff. However, employees have a significant impact on the success of the business, since the goods and services offered by the business stem from their collective efforts. It is vitally important that you take steps to consider the needs of your staff and whether or not they are sufficiently motivated. This could potentially have a bearing on how effectively your business is able to deal with financial challenges.

A business insolvency specialist can assist business leaders and financial directors to deliver pro-active solutions for their business. Enlisting the help of such a service could be an intelligent financial decision in the current climate.