Published on: 21 November 2018
Last Updated on: 09 October 2020
Operating a struggling business can feel like an extremely stressful uphill battle, especially when there doesn’t seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel. Luckily, there are dozens of ways to bring a failing business back from the brink of failure. However, it will take some willpower and a multifaceted approach to pull it off. Things aren’t going to fix themselves, and in most cases, a full recovery will require the implementation of some radical changes. That being said, here are some steps you can take to save even the most troubled business from its own demise:
How to Save a Struggling Company:
1. Apply for a Loan:
Regardless of which approach you choose to take, chances are you’ll need a bit of extra funding to facilitate a full-fledged reform. If you have decent credit and can show proof that the business is earning some form of revenue, you can probably get approved for a loan on a same-day basis. Small business loans from Become. Lending Express has become a popular option for struggling companies that need extra cash flow to get out of the hole.
2. Find New Customers and Clients:
While a loan can keep you from going under, to really get back on your feet you’ll need to start focusing on generating additional revenue. Be competitive in your niche, provide unique products/services, and utilize aggressive promotional techniques to spread brand awareness. Most struggling businesses simply aren’t making enough sales to cover their operating expenses, so the straightforward solution here is to bring more business in the door or to your site.
3. Halt All Unnecessary Expenditure:
Excessive overhead is the last thing a struggling business needs hanging over them. Make a minimal list of everything your company needs to continue operating and scrap everything else immediately. After all, if you’re at the stage of needing a loan or a ground-breaking ad campaign to keep the business afloat, you don’t want to be wasting borrowed money on expenses that aren’t even necessary.
4. Bring in New Management:
When you’re trying to find the root of where your business went wrong, nine times out of ten there is somebody that can be held accountable. Assess the company’s primary mistakes and try to ascertain who was responsible for allowing those decisions to be made in the first place. While letting go of employees can be a difficult adjustment to make, bringing in fresh perspective and talent could be all that’s needed to turn things around. Better yet, consider the advantages of taking matters into your own hands for a while.
Create a Comprehensive Recovery Plan:
In closing, all of the above steps should be incorporated into an overall recovery plan that will guide the business back into a state of solvency and profitability. Try to be as detailed as possible when coming up with specific goals, budgets, deadlines, and agendas. The more specific and realistic your plan is, the greater your chances of success will be, so it’s important to take everything into account, even if it takes days to run all of the calculations and brainstorm it out.
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Supply chains are becoming more complicated and difficult to manage as people demand faster turnaround times, a wider range of products and services, and more personalized experiences.
To be able to fill more diverse customer orders, brand owners must improve how they manage inventory with their supply chain planning systems, work with their partners, and gain more visibility and control over their supply chain.
We will investigate whether or not there is complexity in the supply chain visibility software and how that complexity affects service quality.
Complex and Complexity
Most people would agree that managing supply planning is notoriously difficult. Both are similar and dissimilar. Supply chain networks are notoriously difficult to comprehend.
Relationships between Network members can be dependent, independent, or interdependent, depending on the system or external factors.
Despite the complexity of the supply chain management software, operations are improved when they can be planned for.
Customers
When it comes to ordering, shipping, support, payment, and other aspects of service, each customer has unique requirements. Marketing is more likely to be successful if a product or service can be tailored to the needs of the target market, even if the price is higher than expected.
Logistics is in charge of calculating the "Cost to Serve" for each customer, whereas Sales is in charge of ensuring that customers' price and value expectations are met.
Information
It can be difficult to see what the true demand and supply are when data and information are filtered and changed within and between businesses. Changes in demand at one point in the supply chain can have an impact further upstream.
As a result, the operations will not go as planned. Forecasts are poor and costs are higher because there is insufficient planning data at each level of the strategic supply chain management. Many factors contribute to an increase in demand, including:
Attempting to forecast demand by analyzing internal order and shipment data
Prices change when you can buy more of something for a lower price per unit. The term "deals" refers to everything from buying in bulk to investing.
Rationing and a lack of supplies result from large orders. Planners may decide to extend lead times in order to avoid dealing with capacity issues.
Product
This occurs when various materials, parts, or assemblies are combined. When BOM parts have little in common, it can be difficult to change production schedules to keep up with changes in product variety or demand.
Materials, parts, and packaging are selected in a laboratory or design studio. As a result, these variables may influence procurement decisions about supply markets, which may have an impact on TCO and product prices.
Variety
One can anticipate an increase in the number of goods and services available in a given market. According to marketing, you should always grow rather than shrink, so instead of getting rid of something, do more of it. As a result, the "long tail" of low-selling products has expanded.
Forecasts are less accurate and extra inventory must be discounted if a company does not have an "agile" production structure that can respond to small orders.
Because of standard costing, high-volume products pay a larger share of overhead than they should, lowering margins and affecting supply chain planning systems and marketing decisions. Low-volume products, on the other hand, do not pay enough overhead to cover their complexity.
Planning
The Availability target of the supply chain management software companies necessitates careful management of capacity, inventory, and lead times.
What measure do managers actually use, regardless of what they say? Is it rated, useful, tried and true, or inexpensive? How does capacity change when demand is unpredictable? Depending on how much money is spent, how long it takes to implement the changes, and how much money is required for the process.
A company's inventory must be in good working order in order for it to achieve its objectives.
- place (customer, business or 3PL warehouse, suppliers)- FG, RM, and status of postponed/incomplete- most effective (cycle, safety, seasonal build, etc.)
Inventory decisions can have an impact on capacity and lead times.
Bringing capacity, inventory, and lead times together is the first step in shifting a company's mindset from "silos" to "flow thinking." Flow thinking implies that money, data, and information move through the organization more smoothly and efficiently.
Suppliers
The number of Tier 1 suppliers determines the amount of time procurement professionals have to develop business relationships that improve procedures, reduce "emergencies," and lower transaction costs. When there are too many vendors, communication becomes difficult and things become complicated.
Procurement professionals who are well-versed in their supply markets and adept at managing the items they purchase can ensure that Tier 1 suppliers and item availability are optimally balanced.
Processes
Both internal Tier 1 suppliers and customers, as well as customers from outside the company, manage core planning in supply chain management. It's possible that these practices were implemented initially and then modified to meet changing needs.
When TLS (theory of constraints, lean, and six sigma), a popular method for improving operations, is added to MBWA, strategic supply chain managers have even more opportunities to grow (management by walking around).
It is necessary to take your gaze away from the screen and discuss how the team is doing. Managers work backward from the end of a process, mapping formal and informal connections between parts and asking "why?" at each step.
Addressing Complexity
Supply chains are inherently complicated. Supply chain professionals must be aware of all the minor details that give their company an advantage over competitors and that customers are willing to pay more for.
Because complexity is a part of the unknown, your company could design a structure that prioritizes adaptability and reconfiguration. This would assist it in dealing with the ever-changing political, social, and economic landscapes.
Supply chains become more complicated as businesses expand and gain more clients.
We've already discussed the importance of developing and maintaining relationships with suppliers and partners if you want to expand your customer base. Managing these critical customer relationships entails more than just negotiating, evaluating, and making the most of them. Other difficulties arise as a result of it. Partners must be able to see each other for success, and suppliers must collaborate.
The supply chain planning process becomes more complicated and longer as the number of customers and types of goods sold increases. International shipments with multiple stops split orders, and customs clearance all require more effort. When you have a complete picture of the supply chain, you can better predict problems, deal with them as they arise, and inform your clients about what to expect.
This model can no longer meet the needs of order fulfillment as there are more products, more ways to ship them, and more customers around the world. Today's strategies must be adaptable and quick to change in order to meet each customer's needs quickly and affordably. Each customer order necessitates a link in a "micro supply chain."
We also have a difficult inventory problem that requires assistance from our suppliers. Stock on the shelf can impair a company's ability to make money. Suppliers, manufacturers, warehouses, partners, and suppliers are all currently stocked. The "bullwhip effect" of unsold inventory can only be stopped now by having complete visibility and control over the network.
There is a wealth of data available to help supply chain decision-makers. This is extremely perplexing. The data should also be used to make real-time order decisions in the logistic management software, which will benefit both the company and its customers. There are data gaps because there are more systems, partners, and complexity, which necessitates greater supply chain visibility.
Additionals:
Why Automate Internal Logistics?
What are 3rd Party Logistics Companies?
Essential Logistics Terminology Every Entrepreneur Should Know
5 Tips For Transport & Logistics Business Owners Before Investing In Insurance
Have you ever felt like your desk wasn’t quite meeting your needs? Do you wish it was just a little different so that you could use it more effectively and efficiently? Perhaps you’d love to have a desk that’s custom-tailored to the way that you work.
But how can you achieve something like this? There are plenty of options, but if you want to adjust an existing piece of furniture, the easiest option is to build one yourself. If you’re planning to build a desk or have an existing desk that you’d like to customize, here are ways to customize a modern desk.
Here Are Five Ways In Which You Can Customize A Modern Desk:
1. Choose The Right Shape
The shape is one of the first things to decide when customizing your desk. You may prefer a defined rectangular shape or something more unique, such as an L-shaped desk.
The main thing to remember when choosing the shape of your desk is the amount of space available in your office or home office. If you have a smaller room, an L-shaped desk will allow you to fit in more furniture while still leaving you space to walk and work comfortably.
2. Add Your Desired Features
Next, consider the features you’d like to have on your desk. Do you want a place to store your keyboard or your computer monitor? What about drawers? Keyboard trays are a great addition to an office desk, allowing you to type while sitting in a comfortable position.
If you work with a lot of documents, you might love the idea of adding a file drawer. You want your desk to be as functional as possible; to do that, it needs to be well-suited to your needs. Desk drawers are an excellent tool for increasing the desk’s functionality.
3. Choose A Suitable Material
After you’ve specified the shape and features you’d like on your desk, you can focus on the material it’s made from. There are many different options, each with unique benefits, so choosing one that suits your needs is essential.
Here are some of the most common materials you’ll find in desks:
Metal: The most common type of desk is made from metal, usually aluminum or steel. These desks are durable and easy to clean but tend to be heavy and cold.
Wood: A timeless classic that offers a warm, natural aesthetic. Wood is also easy to maintain and can be customized with stains or paints to match your office’s decor.
Glass: Glass desks are popular because they look great and are easy to clean. They’re also a good choice if you want a modern-looking desk that won’t clash with other furniture in your office. However, glass desks can be heavy, scratch easily, and aren’t very durable.
So it’s worth researching to find material that’s right for you.
4. Pick A Style
One of the final things to consider when customizing a modern desk is the style. The two main styles of desks are modern and traditional. Modern desks are sleek, clean, and minimalist, with sleek lines and a lack of ornamentation. Traditional desks are more whimsical and often feature ornate carvings, ornate legs, and decorative panels.
5. Choosing The Color Of Your Desk.
The color you choose should complement, not clash with, the other colors in the room. Colors that clash creates a harsh, unpleasant look. You’ll feel energized and ready to work if your workspace is inviting.
Summary
Make sure your office is functional, good-looking, and comfortable. The game of business is most effectively played with a well-designed workspace that fits the needs of its occupant. If you can find a desk that allows you to do more, that is an asset to your business.
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The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) is a federal law established in 2002 to combat corporate fraud. The act requires public companies, private companies with more than 500 employees, and bank holding companies to maintain adequate internal control systems. If you are one of these organizations, then this blog post will go over the SOX requirements to help you become SOX compliant!
What is SOX Compliance?
SOX compliance is a set of regulations created to protect investors and the financial markets from fraudulent activities. The act requires organizations listed above to test their internal controls through an independent third party, such as AICPA or COSO. In addition, they must document all findings in detail and implement changes that will correct any deficiencies.
The Four Areas of Compliance Are:
Financial reporting (SOX 404)- This section requires businesses to have adequate internal financial controls.
Internal control structure (SOX 302)- This area ensures your business has procedures and documentation for employees responsible for recording transactions, processing payments, and monitoring risk.
Compliance with laws/regulations (SOX 404)- SOX compliance provides a set of procedures to help monitor compliance with laws and regulations.
Internal audit function (SOX 404)- This area ensures your business has an internal auditing system in place that reviews financial transactions, lines of authority, IT security controls, physical access, etc.
Why it’s Important to be Compliant
The consequences for failing to become compliant with SOX can be serious. Not only can your organization face fines and penalties up to USD 15 million, but you might even cause a financial crisis in the market! The SEC has increased their monitoring of companies required to comply with these regulations and will take immediate action when they see any signs of misconduct.
How to Stay Compliant
There are five ways that you can maintain compliance with SOX. You must have a clear understanding of the risks facing your organization, establish internal controls to minimize those risks, create an environment for open communication between management and employees, avoid conflicts of interest within the company, and finally document all policies following these rules.
If you need help making sure you’re SOX compliant, then don’t hesitate to contact our compliance experts!
Tools for Staying Compliant
If you are looking for a way to simplify being SOX compliant, hire experts to help you. You can find a wide range of companies specializing in SOX compliance, and they will save you from having to deal with headaches. In addition, most experts can help you meet all your deadlines for each stage of the audit process!
Resources for Staying Compliant
The SEC has an excellent FAQ section that will give you the answers to any questions about SOX compliance and what it means for your organization. The COSO ERM Framework is another great tool that can be used by managers who want a better understanding of how to create an efficient company.
Ensuring that your company is SOX compliant can seem like more than you want to take on, but it’s not as difficult or overwhelming as some might make it out to be. If you are having trouble understanding the requirements of this legislation, talk with us about how our team can help. We have a wealth of knowledge and experience in dealing with complex compliance issues for small businesses just like yours!
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How to Register Your Company in China Fast
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Why In-Company Training Results in Better Employees
