You have probably seen it. The fish store owner sees a decline in business, so they have less money to spend on upkeep and inventory, so they keep the fish a bit longer and don't clean up as often, so of course, business declines and then they have even less money... Eventually, you have an empty, smelly fish store that is out of business. In the end all people will remember is the stink of the store, a bitter memory.
The local doctor has fewer patients so he does not invest as much in training or staff and so some other patients choose to leave which means that there are even fewer patients...
The newspaper has fewer advertisers, so they cannot invest as much in running stories, so people stop reading it, which means advertisers have less reason to advertise which leaves less money for stories...
As Tom Peters says, "You can't shrink your way to greatness", and yet that is what so many dying businesses try to do. They hunker down and wait for things to get better, but they do not. This isn't a dip; it's a cul de sac. It's over.
Right this minute, you still have some cash, some customers, some momentum... Instead of squandering it in a long, slow, death spiral, do something else. Buy a new platform. Move. Find new products for the customers that still trust you.
Find new ways to attract new customers, develop short-term market focus, not short term accounting preparations.
"Staying in Business People" -
Think Sales and Marketing - Doing More with Le$$ - Looking for A Way to Succeed, Looking for New Ways to Grow
"Failing in Business People" -
Think Accounting - Doing Less and Saving More -Looking for a Way to Fail Safely, Looking for Ways to Keep Saving and Cutting Costs
Do nothing, and sooner or later your fish store will "stink" !
