As a business owner, you have things on your mind. In fact, it is rather safe to say that you have a ton of stuff on your mind. That being the case, are you accomplishing all the goals you wish to conquer in running your business?

For too many business owners, the answer to that questions is oftentimes going to be no.

For one reason or another, they run into troubles along the way. Those troubles can end up leading to some having to go out of business.



So that you avoid such a fate, it is important that you search for any red flags indicating you are losing business.

Such red flags to be on the hunt for include:

• Not enough cash flow

• Customers not paying bills on time

• Lack of relevant marketing and/or advertising programs

• Competitors bad-mouthing your brand

Breaking Down Important Red Flags

To keep your business as healthy as possible, take a look at each of the above-mentioned red flags.

1.Not enough cash flow

The biggest problem not having enough cash flow can be sustaining their companies.

Buying office supplies, paying employees, and meeting office rent costs can be problematic.

Sit down and review with a fine tooth comb where your money is going each time it leaves your company. In turn, look to see how you can get more dollars coming in.
 
To improve, see if your products, customer service, and brand promotions are clicking.

2.Customers not paying bills on time

While you would love to sidestep this issue, it is almost unavoidable.

When some customers don’t pay their bills on time (or at all for that matter), guess who ends up getting stuck with the bill? If you answered yourself, you’ve got it right.

So that you can be increasing your business profits, do your best to avoid charge-backs at every turn.

Charge-backs are customers not honoring commitments to pay for purchases. As a result, the business owner ends up holding the bill.

To make every effort possible to get paid on time, remember to:

• Have a simple charge card process setup

• Be on the lookout for any potential charge card scams

• If regularly invoicing customers, send those notices out the same time each month

While the majority of your customers will work with you in good faith, be cognizant when not the case.

3.Proper marketing and advertising

Even if you’re tight on funds, don’t drop your marketing and advertising efforts.

If many consumers do not know about your products or services, how can you sell to them?

Look to some cheaper marketing and advertising avenues to get the message out.

More blog content, social media and customer incentives to promote you can all work.

4.What’s the competition got to say?

Though you want to believe competitors are not saying negative things about you, think again.

Even with an unwritten code of honor for business owners, some don't abide by it. This can especially be the case on the Internet.

One way to be alert to bad-mouthing from your competition is activity on social media.

Countless businesses are active on social media on a regular basis. As a result, you could catch wind of some negative words uttered about you and/or your brand.

If you find such evidence, do your best to refute it to consumers. This is a better option than getting into a tit-for-tat with the competition.

Red flags can abound when you’re running a business.

The big question is always going to be will you see them before it is too late?