Four Actions I Took to Prevent My Business From Hitting Rock Bottom

Rosemary Egbo

6 years ago

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As a young entrepreneur, I would say my journey through the road of entrepreneurship has been filled with roses and thorns. I started my first business in college with the energy of a young college entrepreneur who was out to make a difference. In that spirit, my business grew beyond expectation and gave rise to my other businesses.

And just like every story, the trying moments that almost wrecked my businesses came. In a moment like this, there’s always a need to look inward instead apportioning blames. I took the blame for everything that happened because that was one step to overcome these business obstacles. I was out to save what was left.

Here are four things I did that saved my business from hitting rock bottom.

I took back my role.

Research has it that about two-thirds of businesses survive two years in business, half of all businesses will survive five years, and one third will survive ten. Starting any business takes great effort and even greater effort to keep it running. I concurred with the former but didn’t follow through with the latter.

Let’s say I neglected the fact that the continuance of what brought about the growth of a business has a big role to play in its sustenance. Fortunately, I hired the best employees — good hands to bring in more money. Almost everything was left in the hands of my employees, which was one reason for my complacency.

At first, I was happy that things were running fine even without me being actively involved. Little did I know that my business was losing its vision and that was when things came crumbling down.

In moments like these, you sit down and find out where you got it all wrong. I discovered I’d not been psychologically active in the running of my business and had to take back my role as the CEO.

Not that I am trying to kick against delegation. I am only implying that delegation connotes assigning duties to everyone including you. The truth is that nobody can see your vision better than you do. This is your dream, and no matter how dedicated your employees are, you have to understand that it is your vision, not theirs.

There’s always something to do as a boss, even if you can’t be physically involved, you can be psychologically active.

I became curious.

Curiosity they say kills the cat but definitely not a business. I learnt this from John Bradley, the co-founder of Upswing Poker. He said in an email interview,”The little foxes that spoil the vine in business are those tiny details we tend to neglect. Businesses do not fail as a result of big details not taken into consideration but those small details which no one thought meant anything. Curiosity is a great attribute needed by any business owner to thrive.

I had to be more curious than I was if I wanted to save what’s left of my crumbling business. I revisited past records and carried out necessary researches and found out that my customers’ rating had dropped; which was the reason behind the decline in sales. I stopped asking for their feedback unlike when I first started, I had to go back to that form of revaluation. I encouraged my customers to give their opinions and took them seriously like I would to kings’. After all, customers are kings.

In the business world, being inquisitive even to the smallest details help keep you abreast with the latest trends in your business and industry at large. “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence”. – Albert Einstein

I set exciting goals.

Was I excited about my set goals? No I wasn’t. I discovered that no matter how wonderful my goals were if I wasn’t excited about them, they would hardly be accomplished. Even when I finally succeeded, I felt drained. Any goal that leaves one drained after its accomplishment wasn’t inspiring from the initial.

I had to stop choking myself with goals that didn’t inspire me. A true goal is characterized by the fire it lights in your heart, which gives you something inward to hold on to against all odds. It’s not enough to have a big goal but the question is, do you have matching enthusiasm?

Remember, “A mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no one.” – Mary Kay Ash

I dropped the salary earner’s mentality.

In my quest of saving what was left, I discovered that, good it is to pay yourself but better it is to earn a commission. Have you ever noticed the difference between a salary earner and a commission earner?

Their dedication and tenacity are clear differences.

Salary earning brought me too much comfort; I didn’t put much effort like I did when the business had only two employees. Unlike a salary earner, a commission earner tends to be more creative and has better ways of getting things done. This is because his/her wages have a lot to do with the accomplishment of the set targets.

I was among those entrepreneurs that received salaries like my employees until I dropped the mentality. I started paying myself for each hurdle surmounted. I took up more tasks because bill payment depended on them. I had a change that mentality because I wanted to set my business straight.
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