Small Business Issues and How To Tackle Them

Starting your own business is a huge accomplishment in itself but this does not guarantee success in the slightest. Most people who start a business do not realize all of the details that need to be taken care of for the business to run in an efficient manner. Being proactive is the best thing that you can do as you can avoid the problems before they compound. Proactivity simply is not an option at all times as there are times where a business can be blindsided by some kind of issue that preparation would not have helped. The following are issues small businesses can face and how to tackle them.

Former Employee Suing

People can be very vindictive when they are fired or let go regardless of the circumstances. You could have fired the worst sales person you have ever had but they might sue just to make problems. The tough part about this is that you will have to pay your lawyers while they could be making it financially through lawsuit loans. These loans are given to people who might be caught up in a legal battle that they are sure to win. You need to document all of the processes in letting someone go so they cannot say they were wrongfully terminated due to their sex, religion, or personal beliefs.

Huge Client Doesn’t Sign a New Contract

Small businesses need to have a disaster plan when it comes to losing large clients. For every client you lose you should have a goal of bringing on 3 to 5 new clients. One of these clients can turn into a huge client in a matter of time. This will also help you negotiate as the larger clients sometimes try to intimidate smaller companies with the threat of leaving. Diversifying your client base can help mitigate any of these problems. Once you have enough clients you can drop the difficult ones in favor for the ones that pay well and are easy to work with. Business relationships need to be based on respect and honesty instead of trying to pull one over on a business partner. Take the time to do an inventory of your clientele and you will see there might be a few you would be better off not pursuing another contract with.

Making Bad Hires

A gut feeling might work for some when they are hiring their staff. The right hiring process will allow you to pass over the applicants that simply cannot do the job instead of wasting time interviewing them. There should be a multiple step interview with some kind of assignment or problem the interviewee needs to solve. This will show if they are competent enough to perform in the job role that they are applying for. Outsourcing your hiring can be a great idea as staffing companies see thousands of applications per day so they can pick the perfect candidate.

As you can see you need to react appropriately instead of panicking when things go wrong at a small business. Unlike a large corporation one of these small problems could compound to impact the business in a huge way. Think twice about decisions and execute perfectly!

Adam Hansen
 

Adam is a part time journalist, entrepreneur, investor and father.