How To Save a Struggling Business: 14 Steps You Can Take (2026)

Every business faces ups and downs. Recent data shows that 18% of small businesses don’t make it past their first year, and the challenge only grows with time. The five-year failure rate increases to 50%, and by 10 years, only 35% remain in business.

However, owning a struggling business doesn’t mean you’ve failed—it means it’s time to adapt.

Instead of dwelling on challenges, reframe your business struggles as opportunities for growth. This guide will help you identify common reasons businesses struggle and give you practical steps to get back on track.

Common reasons small businesses struggle

Understanding why businesses face challenges helps you tackle your problems head-on. 

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, business survival rates vary by industry. For example, 41.7% of retail businesses are still operating after 10 years. In the information sector, which includes many digital and online businesses, that number drops to 29.1%. 

Here are the key factors to watch for:

Cash flow issues

If you’re spending late nights worrying over profit and loss statements, you’re not alone. A 2024 PYMNTS Intelligence study found that 70% of small businesses have less than four months of cash on hand, and nearly one in five are already struggling to pay basic bills.

When your bank account is running low, work with your accountant to identify new revenue sources or strategically cut costs. 

Market fit challenges

Sometimes enthusiasm for an idea leads to rushing past proper research. If you’re not seeing the demand you expected, you might need to reassess your market fit. But don’t worry—with thorough research and creative thinking, you can pivot your offerings, find new audiences, or adjust your positioning. 

Competition pressure

The ecommerce world is crowded, and similar products often sell for a whole lot less. But don’t rush to cut prices—focus on what makes your business unique and strengthen those advantages.

Business model issues

Even great ideas need solid business models. If you’re constantly struggling to stay afloat, you might need to look at structural changes rather than quick fixes. 

Team problems

Plenty of business team problems arise from mismatched skills and poorly defined roles. In a 2024 Achievers Workforce Institute survey, 50% of HR leaders said they can’t quickly identify employees with high-priority skills, and 60% struggle to spot transferable skills. Not recognizing internal talent blocks you from leveraging your team’s full potential and slows down your business. 

How to spot business challenges early

If you’re reading this, you’ve probably already noticed some warning signs in your struggling business. Beyond financial indicators, keep an eye out for these red flags:

Customer feedback

While negative reviews can be tough to read, they offer valuable insights into what’s pushing customers away. Plus, how you respond matters—BrightLocal found that 41% of customers are more likely to use a business that responds to all of its reviews than one that doesn’t respond to any.

Team morale

Your staff can spot problems early. If you notice disengagement or high turnover, ask for their input through conversation or anonymous surveys. This shows you value their perspective while gathering crucial insights.

Conversion rates

The average global ecommerce conversion rate is between 2.5% and 3%, according to leading sources. Check your Shopify behavior reports to see how your store compares. Low conversion rates often signal that something’s stopping interested shoppers from completing their purchase.

Loan and credit refusal

Loan and credit refusal is a clear warning sign that your business may be losing stability. 

In the Federal Reserve’s 2024 Small Business Credit Survey, 24% of applicants received none of the financing they sought. Among businesses that were denied all or some funding, 41% said lenders turned them down because they already had too much debt, compared to only 22% in 2021. 

If banks or lenders start cutting limits or saying no outright, it’s time to examine your cash flow and debt. 

14 steps to turn your struggling business around

1. Shift your mindset

Success isn’t about working harder—it’s about working smarter. Research shows that your intentions and values drive your actions. By developing a growth mindset where you believe that your abilities can be improved through hard work, you’ll see challenges as opportunities to learn and improve.

Here’s how to build a growth mindset:

• Learn from your setbacks. Every business faces failures. Each one teaches you what to do differently next time.
• Stay adaptable. Plans rarely work out perfectly. Being flexible helps you handle unexpected challenges.
• Take care of yourself. When business is tough, it’s tempting to work non-stop. But burning out won’t help you or your business succeed.

“Entrepreneurship is jumping off of a cliff and building a plane on the way down. ... It is not if you win. It is when you win. If you truly believe in it and you love it … then don’t quit. Ever,” says Their Jewelry cofounder Alexander Ludwig on a recent Shopify Masters episode. 

2. Create clear goals

Now that your mindset is in a good place, it’s time to turn your business around. Setting business goals helps guide your focus and maintain momentum when things feel uncertain. 

Research shows that goal-setting boosts motivation, self-esteem, and confidence. It also correlates strongly with success.

One proven way to do this is through setting SMART business goals. SMART stands for setting goals that are: 

• S: Specific
• M: Measurable
• A: Attainable
• R: Relevant
• T: Time-bound

For example, don’t just say, “I want to grow my list.” Set a SMART goal, like, “I will acquire 200 new email subscribers within the next 30 days.” Then, break that down into a deadline-driven timeline:

• By Day 2: Select and sign up for email marketing software. 
• By Day 7: Design and publish a landing page.
• By Day 10: Launch the first email campaign. 
• Weekly: Promote the list on socials every Tuesday and Thursday for one month.

3. Learn why customers are leaving

While customers often shop around, consistent negative feedback needs attention. Find out why customers leave, such as:

• Poor customer service experiences
• Products not meeting expectations
• Unclear value proposition
• Overly aggressive sales tactics

“Your customer is your biggest advocate. Having a happy customer that comes back to buy again is the most important for me. As soon as we lose a customer, I feel sad. If we lost customers, I want to know why. What’s the reason we lost them and how can we gain them back?” explains Eran Elfassy, founder of Mackage, on a Shopify Masters episode.

Set up a feedback system with your existing customers. Tools like UserLoop or Fuzzy Surveys help you collect insights and understand what customers really want. Use this data to improve your products and marketing strategies to boost both sales and loyalty. 

4. Understand your target audience

Your target audience is the group your marketing speaks to. Knowing exactly who you’re aiming to reach helps you find new customers more easily and bring qualified buyers to your store.

Take cosmetics brand SUGAR, which spent three years defining its target audience. “While we were running our ecommerce business between 2012 and 2015, we realized that there were a lot of millennial women who couldn’t find that perfect nude lipstick or a perfect red lipstick,” founder Vineeta Singh says on a Shopify Masters podcast episode. “There were a lot of colors that were perfect for, say, Caucasian skin, but wouldn’t work on the deeper Indian skin tones.”

The brand identified its core buyers:

• Indian women aged 20 to 27
• Living in metropolitan areas
• Heavy digital content consumers
• Inspired by global trends
• Looking for trends adapted for Indian preferences

This insight led SUGAR to create its first hit product: liquid lipsticks. The long-lasting formula was perfect for India’s humid climate and its target audience’s needs.

SUGAR has since grown from one ecommerce store to over 10,000 retail touchpoints and raised more than $21 million in Series C funding.

5. Perform a SWOT analysis

As a struggling small business owner, take a step back and look at your business from a broader perspective with a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats). 

A SWOT analysis helps you examine your business from different angles and understand your future potential. It’s often part of a strong business plan.

Focus on two main areas:

1. Strengths and weaknesses. Internal factors you can control, like reputation, partnerships, intellectual property, and staff. 
2. Opportunities and threats. External factors outside your control, such as competitors, economy, market conditions, industry trends, and supplier relationships. 

Use this analysis to identify problems, plan improvements, and make decisions that strengthen your business. You can also review business plan examples to see how successful founders map out their SWOT.

6. Review your finances

Even successful businesses face challenges. If your business is financially struggling, issues like cash flow gaps and high debt can often be fixed with the right plan. 

To get back on track, work with an accountant on business financial planning. This will help you understand where your money has gone, and forecast what’s ahead. Create a 12-month cash flow projection that outlines:

• Monthly income from sales and receivables
• Anticipated expenses like rent, payroll, and inventory
• Projected profit or loss
• Outstanding liabilities, like loans and other debts 

Don’t ignore the red numbers. Facing them head-on is the only way to avoid worst-case scenarios like insolvency or personal liability.

7. Consider funding options

Limited working capital affects businesses of all sizes, but it’s especially tough for smaller companies. While having cash for daily operations is essential, you also need capital to hire staff, maintain inventory, run marketing campaigns, and develop new products.

Create an operational plan and budget, then research financing options before you need them. 

Shopify Capital offers quick access to business funding. There’s no lengthy application or credit check, and you can get funded within days. Repayment adjusts with your sales volume. 

Use funding to:

• Hire new team members
• Work with expert consultants
• Prepare for seasonal sales
• Buy inventory at volume discounts
• Source new materials
• Launch marketing campaigns 

8. Consider pivoting your business

While changing direction might seem daunting, especially if you recently started your business, a pivot can strengthen your long-term success.

Before you make a move, assess whether you have (or are ready to develop) four traits that make business owners successful during a pivot:

• Deep knowledge of numbers. You’ll need market research and hard data to justify a new direction. Don’t just listen to your gut, in this case. 
• Willingness to disrupt assumptions. Be brave enough to admit that your original idea or way of operating isn’t working. 
• Persistence through setbacks. Pivoting can get messy. You’ll need extra grit to push through the transition phase. 
• Humility to seek help. You don’t have to know it all—no one does. Success also comes from listening to mentors or experts rather than going at it alone. 

If you have these traits, you’re ready to adapt. You might switch business models from direct to consumer to selling wholesale, or make simpler changes like updating your business name—try Shopify’s business name generator for fresh ideas that connect with your audience. 

Just remember to update your business license and registration documents when making changes to avoid complications later.

9. Build your marketing strategy

With your foundations set—understanding your audience, securing funding, and planning for growth—it’s time to spread the word. Attract and keep the right customers through targeted marketing strategies.

Create awareness on a budget using social platforms:

• YouTube marketing
• TikTok marketing
• Instagram marketing
• Facebook ads

10. Use AI to save time

If you’re stretched thin, AI tools can help you work smarter. They save time and money while improving customer service.

Shopify Magic offers AI tools for building your store, marketing, customer support, and business management. For example, Shopify Sidekick acts as your personal business assistant—it understands Shopify, your business, and entrepreneurship, helping you automate routine tasks.

11. Improve your online store

Your Shopify benchmarks reports compare your store’s performance with similar businesses. If you’re consistently in the bottom 25th percentile, it’s time to upgrade your online store.

Try these tips for selling online:

• Optimize for mobile. With over $744 billion in ecommerce sales happening on mobile in 2026, make sure your mobile experience works well.
• Speed up your site. High bounce rates often signal slow loading times. Reduce third-party apps, optimize images, upgrade your theme, and use system fonts where possible to keep things speedy.
• Boost your SEO. Low traffic often means poor SEO. Start with clear site structure and natural keyword use, then consider adding a blog or building backlinks.

12. Streamline your operations

Inefficient processes waste time and resources. Today’s tools can help you simplify and automate your business.

For example, Shopify Marketplace Connect lets you update your product catalog once and syncs it across marketplaces like Amazon or Walmart. This reduces repetitive work and keeps your products consistent everywhere.

13. Get expert help

This might be tough advice to take, but it’s crucial. Running a business isn’t an innate skill—you can’t know everything about marketing, finances, and management. Getting expert help shows wisdom, not weakness.

That doesn’t mean you should check out of the process. It’s ultimately your responsibility to understand what isn’t working in your business. Experts can help you gain clarity around a situation, but you will lead the turnaround.

Business consultants specialize in helping struggling businesses diagnose problems and implement solutions. Choose carefully: look for expertise in your industry, interview several candidates, check references, and compare proposals to find the best fit.

Need help, but can’t afford an expensive consultant? Consider working with a business mentor. SCORE, a nonprofit partnering with the Small Business Administration (SBA), connects owners with experienced mentors who volunteer their time.

14. Take action now

You might be asking yourself, “Can I really save my business?” The answer is yes, but you have to be proactive. Don’t wait for problems to worsen before acting.

Successfully turning around a struggling business is incredibly rewarding. Every entrepreneur faces challenges—a temporary setback is just one of many.

Remember: Even if this business doesn’t succeed despite your efforts, the experience is valuable. Many successful entrepreneurs faced setbacks before finding their winning venture. You only need to succeed once.

Learning from setbacks

Recognizing your business is struggling is an important first step. While you may face tough decisions to keep your business going, remember that overcoming challenges is part of the entrepreneurial journey.

Whether you need to find new customers or secure funding, taking time to reset and rebuild is a normal part of growing a successful business.