Welcome to the Donut business survival guide…

Many businesses remain in survival mode. Sales are slow, competition is fierce, cash is scarce and bank finance isn’t an option. So what’s the key to survival?

1 Minimise your costs

To reduce your overheads you might move to new premises or (if feasible) relocate your business to your home. Sadly, you might have to make redundancies. You might be able to negotiate better prices from your suppliers, while tax-planning advice might enable you to reduce your tax bill. You need to eliminate waste and inefficiency in all areas of your business. 

2 Manage your cashflow

You must also manage your cashflow, and reliable sales forecasting and budgeting can prevent unpleasant surprises. Effective credit control measures are a must, too, but you still might need to recover debts. If things go really badly and you run out of cash, you should know how insolvency could affect you and your business.

3 Maximise your profits

Knowledge of your market will tell you whether you can increase your prices. Diversifying, perhaps by developing new products or selling to new customers overseas, might provide a financial lifeline. Online sales could also provide you with a fantastic new source of revenue.

4 Seek advice

The information on this website will only help you so far – there really is no substitute for professional advice. There are business support organisations that provide free guidance to small firms.

When the going gets tough, you must act quickly and decisively – ignoring your problems isn’t an option. Elsewhere on this page we’ve gathered together more information from the Donut websites we hope will help you to find a way through. Good luck…

IT money-saving ideas

• Cut your IT running costs
• Get more from your IT budget
• Boost your efficiency with cloud computing
• Save money with open source software
• Slash your phone bill with VoIP
• Reduce your printing costs
• Five free business conferencing tools
• Best freemium business services

On the blog

Follow the Start Up Donut blog all week for new posts on business survival. Latest blogs:

• 10 step business survival guide
• How to survive your first two years in business (part 1)
• How to survive your first two years in business (part 2)
• 10 reasons why start ups fail
• 10 more reasons why start ups fail
• How do you get going when the going gets tough?
• When is it best to accept defeat and close down your business?
• 10 signs that your business is heading for trouble
• How to survive beyond the start up stage