Businesses can survive many things. They can survive problems, lost customers, bad advertising campaigns, and more– and still live to fight another day. Businesses have to be resilient to problems and fluctuations in their operation; it’s essential.
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However, there are three things that can kill a business stone dead. Any business, from a small home-based business to huge multinational corporations, can find themselves falling victim to these three issues. Read on to find out what these potential business-killers are, and — more importantly — how you can prevent your business from falling into their clutches.
#1 – Tax avoidance
As detailed on fundingdulcinea.com, tax avoidance is ultimately what lead to the capture and prosecution of notorious mobster Al Capone. This story neatly demonstrates just how vital getting your tax correct is for anyone. Businesses are subject to a huge number of tax laws, and if you make a mistake, then your business dream can become a nightmare overnight.
The reason tax is so destructive for businesses is that the reason for errors is rarely seen as important. If you deliberately “cook your books”, then you’ll owe the money and you’ll be prosecuted. If you have tax problems completely accidentally, then you’ll still owe the money– the reason for what happened is irrelevant. If you can’t meet tax bills, your business will swiftly come to an end.
The solution to this one is, thankfully, simple: always employ an experienced tax accountant to handle your taxation documentation, even if you’re just a small sole-trader. Tax is too tricky a subject to risk getting wrong.
#2 – Massive data loss
So many businesses in the modern world are built on data; the collection of data, the usage of data, and the analysis they can reap from data. So when a business experiences a massive data loss, the issue can be severe enough to make it impossible to ever recover.
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The problem with data losses is that they are, in and of themselves, catastrophic– but they’re also catastrophic in terms of perception of your company by customers. So even if a business manages to recover from damaging blow of data loss, the damage to their reputation is the coup de grâce that means there’s no way back.
Prevention is, again, simple: ensure you have thorough data backups, both onsite and using facilities such as iconnectmontana.com. Keep your data secure and your business will live to fight another day.
3) Over-dependence
If you only have one supplier or buyer for a particular component of your business, then your business could be on the ropes. Depending too heavily on any one company is, to borrow a common phrase, putting your eggs in one basket– and if that basket falls, it could take your business with it. Many businesses may be robust in and of themselves, but they have to cease operations when another business, one that they relied on too heavily, collapses.
The key to avoid this is simple: diversify everything, look to have as many contracts as possible with different companies, and always have a backup in mind in case your current buyer/supplier were to go out of business.
Now you know what to avoid, your business can survive anything that the world throws at it. Good luck!
