I wanted to talk about how sad it feels when businesses shut down. And I'm not talking about the big businesses like French Connection being in difficulty or Debenhams, although that is terribly sad for the High Street. I'm talking about when businesses like yours close down.
Recently I went to do an Instagram post about some beautiful earrings I have. And I discovered that the fabulously brilliant, wonderful lady who runs this business, her business is closed down. It's totally closed down. The shop's gone, the Instagram has gone, everything has gone. And you wouldn't believe how many people when I wore these the other day in town were like, "Oh my God, I love your earrings. They were amazing. Where did you get them from?"
And I was telling them about this business, but it no longer exists; it is really hard to run a business and keep it going. I know that. I'm in year seven. And I work with businesses all the time. Some who are doing really well and just want to improve and some who are really early on and struggling.
And you might think, "Well, it's a craft business." It's difficult to keep a craft business going. Your overheads are high, your profit margins are low.
I was recently asked to cover a lecture on PR because the PR agency that normally do that lecture weren't replying to any emails and I got their slides and I thought, "Well, who is this PR agency? Who is this woman who for five years have come into the university to deliver her PR lecture?" And I went and looked for her on LinkedIn and her website and her business had closed down as well.
And I thought "There's no ‘this type of business won't work’. There's crafting businesses that do super, super well. You know there are service based businesses who do super well. And there's those that don't survive as well." The Small Business Association, we know that from their study that in the first year of starting your business, 30% of those businesses will fail and will shut down. Within five years that goes up to 50%, that's half of all businesses that start will have closed down within the first five years.
For me, that's kind of heart wrenching because that's a lot of hopes and dreams not realised. That effort that you put in to starting a business, the emotions that you put in, the finding the clients, the setting up the website, the creating the marketing strategy, the meeting clients, the networking, so much energy that you put into that. And then by 10 years, year 10, 66% of those businesses will have folded. That's massive. So it is hard to run a business. So, if you're struggling running your business, that is, you're not alone. There are many, many businesses that are struggling.
But I just wanted to say that there is something that you can do about it. Recently in my group, Blue Stockings, that I run, one of the ladies in there closed down her business and I knew that I could help her and she had an amazing service and she was really good at what she was doing, but she just didn't believe in herself enough to go for it.
So think about ... I mean I just think, "Oh God, she's not happy in her job. She wants to make this business and she's gone back to the job she's not happy in, and I know that she could make her business a success."
It's so hard. So if you're in that place, look for some help. You don't have to do it on your own. You don't have to work with me as there are loads of people that you can work with. Find somebody who inspires you, who makes you feel excited, you see them and you think, "Yes they, inspire me." Look for somebody that you can work with. Find people around you in your community that are in a similar place who can offer you support and advice.
And if you do want to work with a coach, they'll have a number of different price points. You can work with me from £35 a month or for free in Blue Stockings, or up to £270 a month, depending on the support that you want and your price point. So there is support available there and it doesn't have to cost the earth.
I really don't want to see many more businesses closed down. A lot of it can be resolved. Sometimes there's just a few tweaks that can be made to make your business more sustainable, to make you fall back in love with it, to make you realize that when you set up that business, it is possible. There are other people doing it, and if there were other people making a success out of the thing you want to make a success out of, you can do it too.
Did you see my recent blog about how you can make sure your business is found on Google? Check it out here!
