I own an SME and frankly, I'm worried
John Luxton
I help businesses realise their potential. Using the same passion and craftsmanship I used as an antique restorer blended with the professional skills of a long standing business practitioner, expect surprising outcomes.
Unfortunately, this is one of the subjects that seem to keep coming up as we head towards the middle of 2024.
For people who have owned a business for many years, it kind of feels a bit like “here we go again”, which can be a somewhat comforting context, but for many, the shrinking economy can be terrifying.
I know that there are many industries that are really suffering right now and we are starting to see businesses fold. Trust me, this is a trend whose curve will only steepen.
It doesn’t matter that it is largely an intentional set of policy settings from the government. It doesn’t matter what the cause is because having an opinion about it is like having an opinion on the weather. You’re welcome to it. It just doesn’t have any effect.
What I would suggest you think about if you’re in a distressed business position, or even if you’re doing ok but can see some ominous signs ahead is this. Not much occurs in isolation.
I’ve mentioned government settings but that doesn’t excuse the things that you may be doing that were ok when times were good and could mask the inefficiency or wrong focus, but shine like an embarrassing beacon when things get tight.
I’m not having a go here. I’m talking as an advisor who has done extensive work with businesses in trouble. Yes, there are times when something comes from left field that you have no ability to guard against or fight back from.
When your business is struggling, people have a few default responses –
To be perfectly frank, “I should have seen this coming” as a response is as rare as rocking horse poo. Most people don’t want to accept that they may have responsibility for the current situation.
No recriminations here, but I have some really good advice that I urge any SME owner to pick up on enthusiastically and implement immediately.
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Think as objectively as you can about your circumstances. Look at the conditions you face and put them in one of three compartments –
Once you’ve done that, look at the things in the last compartment and see if there is anything you can do in the first two compartments that might help mitigate the effects of that thing. You can’t fix it, but you might just be able to operate around “it”.
Next, once you’ve identified the things that you can fix, establish a simple but focused plan to make the changes that can be made and get on with them.
Once you’ve picked that “low hanging fruit” move on to the things that you may be able to influence somehow. In looking deeply into these, you’ll pretty quickly get a feel for what can be done and what can’t.
These are strange and uncertain times and I’d like to offer support to people in SMEs who are facing real hardship. Now, it seems like a pretty strange business model to be seeking work from people who are in trouble and probably have very little free cash sloshing about, but there’s more to my business practice than just making a boat load of money.
I’ve got a very cost effective way of lending useful support to SME owners that anyone should be able to manage. Go and have a look and see if this might be a good investment of $100.00 per week.
I’d also urge anyone who knows a SME owner who’s really up against it to tell them about this.
A blend of rigour and compassion, decades of hands-on experience and the wisdom of peers. Might work?