Problems That Can Derail Businesses Of All Sizes

Professionals that have been in the working world long enough have seen a business disaster at some point in their career. Companies that have been around for quite a long time are not immune to these problems but many go through these early in the lifecycle of the business. The best thing management of a business can do is take a proactive approach to avoid the problems that will be discussed. Even the most careful planning can sometimes not be enough as some disasters have numerous variables contributing to the issue. It is essential to avoid making rash decisions and to calm down before creating a strategy to do damage control. The following are problems that can derail businesses of all sizes as well as how to overcome these catastrophes.

Problems That Can Derail Businesses Of All Sizes:

Ecommerce Website Issues:

Companies that rely on their website to sell directly regardless if they are selling products or services need the website to stay online constantly. Websites garner traffic at all times during the day so having a few hours a day where a server is overloaded leading to a crash can cripple sales. Even customers that are successful in buying might not go through the hassle again if they need the product immediately. Checkout is too lengthy or complicated can lose a sale as people tend to start to overthink their purchase during the payment process. If checkout can be completed in a matter of seconds it is far easier to close a larger percentage of sales. With this being said, the checkout process is convenient should not sacrifice security in any way. A company that has payment and banking information stolen from customers will have a long road ahead to gain the trust of the public again.

Hack Or Deletion Of Important Data:

The data collected by a business on current, former, and potential clients are extremely valuable. Being able to recover this data is imperative as it could impact business operations going forward. There are solutions like that of a recovery cloud offered by Flexential that can make this much more manageable. The goal of the business should be to get back up and running as fast as possible in a secure way. If there has been a hack a complete security overhaul might be necessary until the source of the hack is traced. There is a chance that there is a hack coming from inside of the company by a current or former employee.

Former Employee Stealing Clients:

A former star employee going into business for themselves is very common. What is unacceptable is when the employee takes clients with them as they closed these clients on company time/money. For this reason, having employees sign noncompete clauses which can last anywhere from 2 to 5 years can be necessary. Most individuals going into business for themselves often times will want work contracted to them from their former employer so they generally try to stay in their good graces. Locking an employee out of accounts is imperative if they leave or have been terminated. Do not let them gather all the contact information of current clients in an attempt to steal them from the company.

Time Theft Among Employees:

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament or March Madness contributes to a multitude of time theft on an annual basis. The US economy experiences losses due to distraction and time theft in the billions during the tournament. There is not always going to be time to be looking at the shoulders of staff so installing time tracking software is essential. For those top performers, it might be wise to turn a blind eye to a salesperson on social media if they are closing 5 times the sales of anyone else. Time tracking not only eliminates time wasted but it also gives a company the opportunity to see how all-star employees are allotting their time.

Multiple Large Clients Not Renewing Contracts:

Losing one major client can be a tough situation but losing multiple large clients can close the doors of smaller companies. Creating scalable processes is important as this allows a company to take on far more work which can act as an added insurance in case of large clients leaving. Client retention staying high makes it possible to add clients monthly which will increase overall revenue. Signing long term contracts with large clients at a discount can be wise as it provides stability.  Being able to forecast a certain amount of revenue allows a company to strategize other areas of business.

Business is not always going to go as planned so be prepared to endure and react appropriately when something goes wrong. Businesses that consistently adapt and excel are those that are going to be around long term regardless of industry.

Read Also:

• How to Improve Productivity in Your Small Business
• Common Challenges Small Business Face — And How to Overcome Them