Many businesses struggle to survive for the long term. According to statistics, about 50 percent of companies fail to survive past their fifth year in existence. Numbers like that can certainly be sobering for entrepreneurs.
Thankfully, if you are a business owner worried about your company’s performance, there are certain tools you can take advantage of to help improve your business’s long term prospects. Below are three.
Business Analytics Software
Technology is one thing that can certainly help steady the ship that is your company so you can stay profitable. One piece of business tech you should consider investing in is business analytics software. There are four general kinds of data analytics you can perform with your business data.
Descriptive analytics helps you determine what happened with past business performance. Diagnostic analytics helps determine why you performed that way. Predictive analytics helps you predict how your business will perform in the future. Lastly, prescriptive analytics helps to prescribe actions that can be taken to best improve future performance.
Financial Counseling
Many of the largest companies in the world were started by complete amateurs. Steve Jobs, for example, started Apple out of his parents’ garage. It is not expected that new business owners will be experts at all aspects of running a business. This is why it’s a good idea to sometimes get outside help and input from experts.
You may, for example, require financial counseling to help you create a better plan for getting your company into the black permanently. Something you may find beneficial is a financial bench marking service. Such a service can help you better match standards in your industry used by successful competitors so you can replicate that success in your own company.
A Solid Business Plan
Every business should have a business plan. Despite this, many entrepreneurs operate without one. Just because you may not need to get a loan from a lender to start your business does not mean you should go without a business plan.
A business plan can be thought of as a blueprint for how you will make a profit from day to day and achieve your company’s long term goals. If you are failing to make a profit, there are issues you may have overlooked that would have been addressed in a solid business plan.
Just because your company is struggling now does not mean you can’t turn around your fortunes. In certain cases, doing so may require investing in the right tools, obtaining outside help or rethinking your overall plans for making a profit. Many successful business owners went through this process. Don’t be disheartened.