A partner leaves, a big client goes, a customer will not pay. These are the moments nobody plans for. Here is how to recognise where you are and what to do first. For anything legal or financial, talk to a professional as well.
Read the headings first. If one sounds like you, check the signs underneath against your own business. Recognising the problem is the first step, and for some of these it is most of the work.
Is this you?
Why it happens
Partnerships are usually set up in good faith, so what happens at the end rarely gets written down at the start. Talk to a lawyer and an accountant early.
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Guide coming soon.
Is this you?
Why it happens
A layoff arrives without warning, so the decision about working for yourself has to be made under pressure.
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Is this you?
From our invoice data
For the typical small business, the single biggest client accounts for 43% of a year's billing (58 businesses with two or more clients).
Source: Billbooks invoice data, 8,483 invoices from 112 small businesses, September 2024 to September 2026 (aggregate only, figures shown only where 25+ businesses contribute). See the study
Why it happens
Relying on one large client felt like stability, so there was no plan for losing them.
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Is this you?
Why it happens
Late payment without consequence tends to become non-payment, and many owners wait too long before escalating.
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Is this you?
Why it happens
Good years make planning for bad ones feel unnecessary.
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Is this you?
Why it happens
Contingency planning feels like preparing for things that will not happen, until one does.
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Guide coming soon.
Is this you?
Why it happens
Guilt and fear of repeating it can freeze you at exactly the moment action is needed.
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Guide coming soon.
Is this you?
Why it happens
A business rarely closes cleanly, and the debt and the sense of failure arrive together, which makes the next step hard to see. A free debt adviser can help you list what you owe and what to deal with first, and a doctor or counsellor can help if it is weighing on you.
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Guide coming soon.
Is this you?
Why it happens
Clients are testing whether cheaper tools can do part of the work, and the services that are easiest to describe are the first to be priced down.
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Guide coming soon.
When something has gone wrong, the first useful number is how many months your cash covers. Work it out before deciding anything else.
Work out your runwayMore problems owners run into: cash, pricing and invoicing, books and expenses, selling and leads, mindset and growth, tools. Or see every problem in one list.