The Toronto Star (thanks to my graduate assistant Joe Ormont for finding things like this one!) has an interesting article about signs of trouble that small businesses should be watching out for:
Financial: Are you struggling to make payments like rent? Is it hard to buy inventory? Are you taking on more debt than you're comfortable with just to keep the business going? Is your banker worried when he reviews your statements?
Customers: Is there a decrease in repeat business? Is there an increase in customer complaints? Are their lawsuits from customers?
Employees: Is employee morale diminishing? Are key employees leaving? Are departments fighting with each other?
However, I don't really agree with the author's comments that follow these quick and dirty diagnostics -- might be time to shut down the business. I would suggest that these are opportunities to right the ship. But, I guess that is the difference in outlook between an entrepreneur who is a blogger and a journalist....
