Everyone knows that you need a solid business plan in place in order to open a business, but how many people out there know what’s necessary for a business shut down?
I know it’s not a fun thing to think about but there are times in your business, when it may become necessary to think about creating a “Shutdown Plan” for your business.
If you’ve done your best to keep cash flow going but it’s not flowing, and the business is struggling to stay afloat, it may be time to close down.
Important note: I’m am NOT saying that at the first sign of trouble, you close up shop! But, if you’ve thoroughly done your research and you know there’s no other way but to close, creating a formal written “Shutdown Plan” may be the key to making the whole process easier.
Probably the easiest way to start a business shutdown is to review your original business plan.
The topics and information covered in your opening business plan, will tell you what things you put into place in the beginning, that now need to be undone, before you can actually close your doors.
Trust me, I know the pain of a business shutdown all too well. It’s like losing a child, or a part of your identity.
When it came to FITzee Foods, I was in limbo for OVER A YEAR. I didn’t know where we were going, or if everything was going to go well with The Vitamin Shoppe or with the show, The Profit! I was hoping for Marcus Lemonis to help us. I had a lot on the line, and my team and I were relying on everything going well.
However, in life, so much goes unplanned. Unforeseen circumstances came up in my business. Things I had NO control over, which meant in the end I had to shut FITzee Foods’ door back in March of 2017.
When it came time close, I had no idea what I was doing. And it isn’t quite as simple as saying, “Okay, now I’m closed.” There were vendors that still need to be paid, employees that I cared about that had to be let go, and leases that had to find someone new to take them over.
I wasn’t necessarily in this alone, but I had NO guidance, and as I said earlier, even the internet isn’t much help when it comes time to close down.
A guest on Success Unfiltered, Chelann Gienger, started her first business three days after she graduated high school. That business, which is now thriving, had a low point. Chelann shared how her company handled it and how they came back!
Reaching a Crossroads
Chelann is the successful owner of NUYU Juice Bar in Yakima Washington, but that wasn’t always the case.
In November of 2016, NUYU’s business had plateaued. They had tried transitioning some things, and since they were experiencing the winter season, people were just not visiting the juice bar as often as they were in other months.
Winters can be agonizingly slow, to the point of where you question if you’ll ever make it through.
Not only was it a tough time for sales, but it was a difficult time for the 3 owners of NUYU. They were trying to decide if they wanted to stay in business. Because no matter how much you believe in and have faith in your business, you have to be honest with yourself.
Will the business sustain this low point?
Chelann and the other owners had several meetings to discuss whether they’d be able to make it through, whether Chelann would buy the other owners out, or if they’d simply just have to close their doors.
Can you imagine pouring your heart and soul into a business, not receiving any personal gain, and thinking it could fail, even though you still believed it could succeed?
It’s heartbreaking, but this is exactly where Chelann found herself. She knew that each and every business is like a newborn child at some point, it needs constant love and attention, but she wasn’t sure whether she had it within herself to do it alone.
In the span of three months, Chelann had to mentally get ready to take on the responsibility of managing the business herself.
Unfortunately, during that time several things occurred and it seemed as if the business wasn’t even going to make it through the next few weeks.
Chelann and her partners began creating shutdown plans.
At the time, Chelann felt like such a failure. She felt like she was letting go of a dream. She even believed that this was all her fault.
The Comeback
After weeks of planning out what they needed to do to shut down their entire business, things started turning around for NUYU. They were able to throw their “Shutdown Plan” in the trash!
Businesses are a long game. Your consistency and persistence, and always asking yourself, “how you can be better?” are the ways you improve and build a solid business.
The big shifting point for Chelann and her partners was the mindset of understanding that putting the right systems into place NOW, would show results three months later.
The very first thing Chelann and her partners did was get the right people on their team. They got rid of employees who weren’t supporting the culture that NUYU wanted to portray.
The next thing that they did was start holding monthly meetings. They would sit down and discuss three or four tangible goals that everyone could reach as a team. Not only that, they choose a business value that they want to focus on for the month.
Chelann would create action items so that the entire company was on the same page and everyone could act on these values, and build this amazing culture that people want to experience when they walk into a juice bar.
Basically they kicked themselves in the butt to make everything work, and it did!!
NUYU never had to shut its doors, and is currently thriving in Yakima, Washington.
In Conclusion
Sometimes in life and in business, things just don’t work out the way we want them to. It might be timing, or it could be running low on cash flow, but no matter what you should never ever fear the NO’s that come.
Those NO’s do not mean you are a failure. It’s just another lesson learned!
If you’ve ever thought your business was going to close, I’d love if you shared how you made your big comeback or how you had to shut everything down, in the comments!
