Businesses going bankrupt

[justinsigns]

Hey all

I was at a family thing last night, and we were discussing the amount of businesses going bankrupt in the local area.

Most are leisure based businesses - boats, large mowers, motorcycle shops.
These particular businesses are quite large and have been around for a good part of 10years +

I have also noticed alot of my one-off small business customers closing their doors after a couple months / years.

Do you think this trend will flow into the trades and services sector?

Has anyone else noticed closures of medium sized businesses in their local areas?

[fire extinguisher dude]

we live in the south of adelaide and recently our newsagent/post office closed citing the massive rent they had to pay in the local shopping centre.
people are cutting down on leisure items and only buying consumables that they need only.
thanks to the millionaires that run the reserve bank and have no real
experience in the real world when it comes to everyday costs and expenses.
My opinion
chris merrill

[Brendan]

I guess it is times like these that sparate the good businesses from the bad.. if you have a rock solid business then you should have planned and be prepared for the hard times.

As history shows, its not always rosy in the financial markets, and the banks and government are not always there to help you, or have your best interests at heart!

In times like this, you can't rely on anyone but yourself to help you, you need to plan for the down times and hopefully be able to pull yourself through.

I have actually noticed some businesses booming in these times while their competitors are failing.. again it all comes down to good business planning.

[HWT]

No, in my area they just sold out a new commercial estate and lots of new businesses are either moving into the area or building themselves bigger premesis. We would like to rent a shopfront for ourselves but there are none available so we are forced to work from home.

[The Profit Frog]

It's an interesting observation regarding closure of businesses - just a little unclear whether you are referring to business closure by choice, OR if you do strictly mean bankruptcy?

It may seem I am splitting hairs - but my understanding of the two is perhaps a bit specific:
Closure, by choice and doing so with some financial dignity and reparation in tact.
Bankruptcy - financially in despair and having to call in the administrators or declaring bankruptcy due to unpaid bills etc.

Closure is an option, bankruptcy is no option.

For those small businesses facing the choice between closure and bankruptcy, I guess it depends on how quickly the small business owners recognises the financial situation their businesses are in.

The sooner a small business recognises trouble, they have to assess what the pressures are that contribute to their potential downfall.

It could be that situations such as new commercial shopfronts and commercial shopping strips making it hard on small mum-and-dad businesses have changed the consumer traffic.

It might be that the small business owners have not capitalised on the use of the Internet. Without evaluating whether the internet really is vital to your business via ecommerce or catalogue-version, or other ways a business owner can capture web presence, a small business owner can easily be sinking their own hard won success and unfortunately bring on their downfall and closure.

My concern is that many small business owners are unfortunately ignorant of what marketing is. I contribute to a couple of forums and one of the most evident issues is that marketing is confused with advertising.
They also "follow-the-competitor" when it comes to making the decision about marketing. If ABC is doing it, and XYZ are doing it, then 123 has to do it.

I have begun targeting my business marketing expertise toward helping small businesses avoid the administrators - by focusing on essential profit growth without dependence on advertising.

If you know any small businesses that are currently in the "choice" mode where closure could be a potential - rather than where bankruptcy is the only solution - please let me know... or ideally, let them know of me, and I will offer a special deal to 3 small businesses who choose my help.

I don't mean to sound like I am engaging in self-promoting, quite seriously I am interested in helping small businesses become a lasting part of the economy's landscape... shopscape..