#56 Why 45% of Businesses Fail (And How to Make Sure Yours Isn’t One of Them)

Actionable strategies, expert insights, and business tips to help you sustain and grow your business past the crucial five-year mark.

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#56 Why 45% of Businesses Fail (And How to Make Sure Yours Isn’t One of Them)

You’re probably aware of the daunting statistic: nearly half of all businesses fail within the first five years. But what if I told you that understanding why they fail is the key to ensuring your business doesn’t become one of them?

In today’s episode of She Is Unstoppable, I sit down with the brilliant business strategist Inbar Madar, who’s here to shed light on why businesses struggle with profitability and, more importantly, how you can avoid these pitfalls.

With over a decade of experience, Inbar has been helping businesses all over the world strategize for success. She’s pulling back the curtain on what really leads to business closures and offers proven strategies that will not only keep you afloat but also help you thrive in the long term.

Inbar has an incredible wealth of knowledge, from pricing and profit margins to scaling your business the right way. She also shares her journey of leaving corporate America and carving out her own path to success in the consulting world. This episode is full of tips you can start implementing right away, especially if you feel like your business is at a crossroads. We want to make sure that you’re not included in that 45% of businesses that fail.

And if you’re wondering how to navigate an ever-changing economy (yes, we talk about election years, market shifts, and even COVID), Inbar’s got you covered.

You’ll learn:

(4:12) How Inbar transitioned from a corporate career into business consulting
(9:32) The truth behind why 45% of businesses fail in their first five years
(14:25) Common profit struggles that new businesses face (and how to overcome them)
(16:52) Inbar’s rule of thumb for calculating profit margins and avoiding financial pitfalls
(21:35) The importance of paying yourself from day one, even if it’s just a dollar
(25:05) Why pivoting is more important than niching down in the early stages of your business
(29:32) How to stay agile and adapt your business to unpredictable market changes
(33:51) The surprising first step you should take if your business is struggling to survive

Listen in and take action to safeguard your business TODAY by following these practical steps from Inbar!

The Key to Business Survival: Analyzing Your Cash Flow and Profit Margins

• Cash Flow 101: Your cash flow is simply the money coming into your business minus the money going out. But are you really keeping track of it?
• The 50% Rule: Inbar recommends ensuring that at least 50% of what you charge for your product or service is profit—anything less is a red flag for your business’s health.
• Evaluate Your Operating Expenses: Keep a close eye on recurring costs like subscriptions, marketing expenses, and other “nice-to-haves” that might be eating into your profit.

Inbar’s Top 3 Tips for Entrepreneurs Facing Challenges:

1. Take Time Off: It might sound counterintuitive, but stepping back can clear your mind and help you make better decisions.
2. Get a Fresh Perspective: Sometimes the best solution is right in front of you, but you’re too deep in it to see it. Bring in a mentor, business coach, or trusted friend to help you evaluate the situation.
3. Realign with Your Purpose: Reflect on why you started your business in the first place. Are you still aligned with that vision, or has your business taken a detour?

How to Stay Agile During Market Shifts:

• SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats—use this to evaluate how you can turn potential threats, like economic shifts, into opportunities.
• Pivot, Don’t Panic: When challenges arise, it’s essential to consider how you can adapt. Whether it’s launching new products, shifting to online platforms, or tightening up your expenses, flexibility is key to survival.

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About Inbar

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Read the transcript:

[00:00:13.880] – Deanna Hinsz

Welcome to She Is Unstoppable, the go to podcast for every woman who’s ready to step up, stand out and thrive. I’m your host, Deanna Hinz. Here on the show, we feature extraordinary women leaders and entrepreneurs. These powerful guests share their journeys of breaking barriers, creating successful ventures, and living lives that inspire. Each episode is packed with real stories and real advice for women who’ve done it. We also provide you with actionable tips and proven strategies to help you build your leadership skills, enhance your business, and achieve your goals. If you’re looking to take your professional and personal life to the next level, this is the place for you. Are you ready to make real changes? Ready to face challenges head on and turn them into stepping stones? Then you belong with us. Join the community for fierce, unstoppable women, it’s time to get motivated, get inspired and get moving. Let’s dive into today’s episode and unlock your unstoppable potential. Did you know that nearly half of all businesses fail within the first five years? What if I told you there are clear reasons why and even better proven strategies to make sure that your business isn’t one of them?

[00:01:34.390] – Deanna Hinsz

Today I have Inbar Madar, a brilliant business strategist, joining us to reveal the secrets to keeping your business profitable and thriving beyond those crucial early years. Whether you’re struggling with pricing, feeling overwhelmed with expenses, or not sure how to grow, Inbar has the answers you need. So grab your cappuccino, get comfortable, and let’s get ready.

[00:02:04.600] – Deanna Hinsz

Inbar, it is such a pleasure to have you here today. I am so excited to talk to you and to learn more about you and your expertise. And I know that my audience is going to be so excited to listen to this podcast. So thank you so much for coming on.

[00:02:20.180] – Inbar Madar

Yeah, thank you. I’m so excited being here. This is going to be a fun conversation, I already feel.

[00:02:25.360] – Deanna Hinsz

Yes, it is. Yes. I love that. I love it. So before we get started, can you share a little bit about your journey and how you got to where you are?

[00:02:37.410] – Inbar Madar

Yeah, so I started my corporate career pretty early. When I was 20, I started managing staff, started as a store manager, and I was getting, you know, promotion after promotion after promotion really quickly. I don’t think I’ve had any positions that I did for more than a year. And so that kind of kept me in the corporate bubble because every time I got bored with a position or I wanted a raise or whatever, I was just promoted. And that kind of gets you stuck. And I always wanted to start a business, but I had no idea what I wanted to do. And, you know, life, life, be life in. And you’re so busy with friends and family and your actual job that the last thing you have is, like, space to figure out what kind of business you want to open and what it’s going to look like and all that. And in my past, the last two positions I had in corporate, I actually worked with business owners. One of the positions, we had franchisors around the world, and I was. Was doing sales strategy and training with them. So I essentially started working with different cultures, different countries, different business owners to help them establish a good business strategy that will yield results.

[00:03:58.480] – Inbar Madar

And I found myself so deep into everything that I, like, forgot that it was my job at this point. I would talk to them whenever they wanted. I would jump on a plane once a month, which was not common for my position, and I was just in it with them. And then when I moved to my other position, I was working with small business owners who purchased our products and sold it. So we were doing wholesale, and I found myself literally doing exactly the same thing, although that wasn’t my position anymore. So I would talk to them, I would jump on planes, I would check their strategy. I was so deep in it that I was like, oh, that’s my big impact. Like, duh, I can help people expand, hire more people, get paid more, just be successful in what they’re doing, because I know how to do business. That’s my thing. So that’s when I was like, okay, I think it’s time to spread my wings and open my business. And it’s been a five years.

[00:05:03.750] – Deanna Hinsz

Oh, my gosh. So I get now how the why behind, like, transitioning into being in business consulting. But how did you take that step? Was there a moment that you’re like, wait a minute. Like, I can do this jam. Like, I know I can do it, but actually stepping out and doing it is another thing.

[00:05:26.390] – Inbar Madar

Yes, 100%.

[00:05:28.090] – Deanna Hinsz

How does that happen? Was there a moment or so?

[00:05:31.990] – Inbar Madar

I would say it wasn’t easy. And I think a lot of the times when we see the curated stories of every business owner, it looks like it was like, oh, I took that one step, and then everything worked out. It didn’t work out like that. And I feel like usually it doesn’t. It’s an unrealistic expectation. And so, for me, I started. I tried to start really small and local. At the time, I was living in New York, and so I reached out to my community, tried to figure out what type of consulting I wanted to do. I had a lot of experience in retail, so I wanted to specifically work with retail companies first. That didn’t work. That failed miserably. I had no idea what I was doing. I was just, like, touching stuff online and seeing if I can get a client. And I would say running a business is very different than starting a business. And so that was my learning experience. Eventually, what happened is I just needed a break. I needed to get out of corporate. I knew for my mental health I needed to get out of corporate. I was working ten to 12 hours every day, weekends, on vacation.

[00:06:40.150] – Inbar Madar

Nothing matters when you’re in leadership in corporate, you don’t have time off. It’s a lie. It’s a complete lie. It’s a lie. So I realized that for my mental health, I just needed to take a step back and leave. And so I started working on building my business from a less pressured point of view. I wasn’t like, I gotta make money. And once I make money, I’m gonna leave my corporate, and I’m gonna do everything together, and I’m gonna work 100 hours a week because that’s what you do, and you’re a business owner. I literally did the opposite. I was like, let me step away from corporate. I had savings. I saved before. Let me start small and see what happens and also see what I like and I don’t like. When I started it, I did a lot of marketing consulting and website developments and things that I’m not super passionate about. I could do it, but just because you could do it doesn’t mean you should. And so that was kind of my beginning and starting to pivot into business strategy that was more around profits, expansion, operations, Hr. I’m more focused on that now because I’ve realized with time as well that that’s not only what I’m good at, but it’s also what I enjoy doing most and what I’m most passionate about.

[00:08:03.090] – Inbar Madar

And so letting go of the other portions now, I have employees that do marketing consulting and that portion, but at the beginning, just letting go of that portion completely and saying, that’s what I want to do. Let me start, let me do some trial and error. Let me see who I enjoy working with. Is it a small business, is it a big business? What type of business? What type of industry? And slowly kind of refining that until I was like, okay, I’m officially a business owner. I’m ready to take that on. Like, I’m making this thing formal.

[00:08:34.740] – Deanna Hinsz

I appreciate that you just shared that, because I think a lot of times, business owners, you know, they heard us. I’m going to say us. People who’ve been in business for some time talk about niching down and who are you targeting? What do you want to do? But in the very beginning, it looks a little bit different because you are trying different things. And you may say, well, this is what I want to do. And it’s marketing consulting. And then as you try these different things, you’re like, wait a minute, that’s really not my jam. I don’t get joy out of doing that, but I do get joy over here and this is really what I want to do. So I appreciate you sharing that piece because sometimes the noise on social media, media and newsletters and email is niche down. Niche town. Niche town. But in the beginning it looks a little bit different. So thank you for sharing that piece of it.

[00:09:23.460] – Inbar Madar

Of course, I think it’s all about. It’s all in theory at the beginning, right? You don’t have actual experience. It’s really hard to niche down and like lock in on specific audience and specific skill. And everything is so specific when it’s all in theory. In theory. I did marketing for so many years, I was like, yeah, I’ll do that. But in reality, marketing for small businesses is very different than marketing for large corporates. And it’s very different when you do it in a consulting base versus if you have employees and a team. And so that’s when I at least realized that’s not my passion. Okay, let me just pivot. I think that’s the biggest thing about bigger. Then the niching down would be pivot. When you need to be adaptable to whatever is happening, that is way bigger than niching because you can get your niche wrong. And if you stick to it because everyone online are like, niche down, niche down. Niche down. You’re not going to be successful. You’re going to be successful. If you say, I actually hate that, I’m going to pivot on the other way and see how that works.

[00:10:28.170] – Deanna Hinsz

Yes. Preach, preach. I love that.

[00:10:30.450] – Inbar Madar

That’s so true.

[00:10:32.090] – Deanna Hinsz

It’s so true. Now, you had shared that you think 45% of businesses will close within the first five years. And I’m curious, why do you think that?

[00:10:43.860] – Inbar Madar

So that’s actually a research, of course I blanked on the name. I think it was the Department of Labor that shared that. I always like talking about that statistic though, because it’s scary, right? If I’m not wrong, it was also 70% of businesses closed within ten years as well. Close within five and then 70 close within ten and it’s due to lack of profits. And the reason why I’m doing quotation, it’s because saying that businesses close due to lack of profits is like saying a person dies when their heart stops working. Yeah. If you don’t have money, you’re going to need to close. But the bigger question is why? Where did your money go? Lack of profits is a really broad and like, it’s a fancy term, right? It’s a very much a business term, but it doesn’t tell you why they actually closed. Are most businesses not investing correctly in their marketing? Are they not analyzing it correctly? Are they not aware of their operation expenses? Like, what is the actual route that is causing their profits to drop to the point of needing to close? That’s a bigger question. And that’s why I always like talking about it, because otherwise I feel like it can be really scary and big and too formal to actually take action.

[00:12:10.930] – Deanna Hinsz

Right. That is interesting. I had heard it was a large percentage that closed. I did not know 45%. I’ve heard restaurants are higher than that, but I don’t. Oh, yeah, exact number.

[00:12:24.380] – Inbar Madar

Me neither. But I can imagine.

[00:12:26.740] – Deanna Hinsz

Yeah, it’s much higher than that. And I did not know the ten years that 70% close after that, which is really, really interesting. And I am curious to find out, you know, what does lack of profit really mean? So I’m going to pick your brain a little bit as I’m thinking about that, because you work with these businesses and what have you seen as the most common reasons that these businesses do struggle with their profit?

[00:12:53.940] – Inbar Madar

Yeah, I would say I’m going to divide my answer, I think the most common one, when the business is almost just getting started, is not being aware of their return on investment for any and all expenses. A lot of the times when you just start a business, you pay for that, you know, subscription to like schedule posts, and then you boost a few posts and you have no idea how much you actually overall spend on these, like quick boosts of posts on social media. And then you, I don’t know, added a third party website that takes 20% commission. All of these things add up and they eat up your profit. So really understanding what is the purpose of each of your expense and what is it serving you, is it saving you time? Is it a mandatory thing that you got to have? Is it just nice to have? Or is it just there because you forgot to cancel it? And really be intentional with how you’re spending money, then I would say if you’re kind of like in your growth space, maybe you’re getting closer to high five figures, six figures. Then usually it turns from really picking and choosing your expenses to you’re probably overworking and you’re scared to take that leap of I need to expend, I need to hire, I need to restructure how I spend my money.

[00:14:17.380] – Inbar Madar

And that’s another thing that essentially then eats up your money. Because if you’re almost getting comfortable with that glass ceiling of here’s how much I can make when I work on my own full time, your revenue is going to take a hit whenever you lose a client or whenever your best selling product maybe doesn’t sell as good at the same month. These type of changes can actually affect your business tremendously unless you have that expansion growth of saying, here’s how much I’m making, here’s how much I’m spending, I’m categorizing my expenses. These are the necessary expenses. These are my, nice to have. These are, oops, they’re still here. I should remove them. How much money do I have left in my bank account? Can I hire, can I outsource, can I get an intern? How can I get help to raise my revenue without raising my expenses? That’s your next step of the business. What are your overall monthly expenses that aren’t changing and how much revenue do you need to make to start making enough profit to be comfortable, interesting.

[00:15:25.690] – Deanna Hinsz

And I love all that. And somebody might be listening, going, okay, yeah, that sounds really good. And I do all these things and I have all these subscriptions. But how, how do I know, like, how do I know if it’s really hurting my profit or if it’s working for me because it is saving time or. So I’m going to ask, do you have a rule of thumb of if somebody is doing marketing what their ROI should be or, you know, how to price things? I mean, what are some general rule of thumbs and somebody listening, that’s like, I hear her, but how do I know that they can apply?

[00:16:06.880] – Inbar Madar

Yeah, so my rule of thumb, it’s really broad, though, I would say. I’m going to start by saying it varies based on the industry, the size of the business, the channel that they’re selling, whether it’s brick and mortar or online. But you never want to go under 50% in profit. And when I say profit, I just mean how much is your client paying for your service or product and how much are you paying to make that sale happen? That’s your 50% lower than that it almost doesn’t matter what industry you’re at, you’re likely going to lose money. Because when you, look, I’m going to say cash flow. But so let me simplify the word cash flow first. Cash flow is just how much money is coming to your bank account, minus how much money is leaving your bank account. Whatever is left is your cash flow. That’s what stays in your bank account, and that’s a cash you can use. Essentially, your cash flow is divided by the revenue that’s coming, minus whatever you’re paying for your product or service, minus what we call operating expenses. That’s going to be things that we usually don’t think about, like your website domain or like your Zoom subscription, your Gmail account.

[00:17:21.640] – Inbar Madar

All of these tiny things are your operating expenses because they’re just there to help you literally operate the business. So unless you have 50% after just spending the money to make the product or perform the service, you’re likely not going to have enough to also pay all of your operating expenses, pay yourself, and get something left over in the bank. That’s my rule of thumb. But like I said, it’s very, it’s very broad. A lot of product based businesses, they would usually stay at a minimum of 70% margin. And then if you do wholesale, you want to stay at about 50% margin. So it varies for sure. But I would say 50%. If you’re lower than that, that’s a red flag. You want to take action?

[00:18:15.220] – Deanna Hinsz

Yeah, no, and that’s great advice because I know people are listening going, I’m not sure, like, yeah, I hit, you know, I have all my expenses written down and I’m over that. I’m charging more than that. But am I charging enough? And you mentioned, as you were explaining that, that you would have enough money to pay your expenses and pay yourself. So when you’re figuring out what that looks like, that 50%, do you also include what your rate of whatever fee you’re charging for your personal time in that equation?

[00:18:52.700] – Inbar Madar

I think it would depend on where you’re at with your business. The first advice I would give, no matter where you’re at with your business, pay yourself something. Even if it’s literally a dollar a month, it doesn’t matter. And the reason why I always say that is because a lot of I, at least from my experience, I found a lot of entrepreneurs that start with the mission of investing everything back in the business, making the business grow before they take money, which is, it’s a good strategy, they end up being scared of paying themselves. I’ve seen people one year, two years into their business still being scared of paying themselves because the business comes first, and what if the business will need it? And that’s a mindset issue that I was surprised at how common it is. But it does make sense if you come to it from a place of I need to make my business successful no matter what. I’m going to do everything I can. I’m going to invest everything I have. You end up losing the purpose of starting a business. That freedom, whether it’s freedom of time, of financial freedom, whatever it is, you got to start taking the smaller steps to pay yourself something and make a plan.

[00:20:05.830] – Inbar Madar

How do you make that grow? To your question, the amount that you should pay yourself would definitely vary. For example, if you do services, like any type of services, you’re likely going to be able to pay yourself more because your costs overall are going to be lower. But if you’re selling products, you’re probably going to need to pay yourself less at the beginning. It’s always good at the beginning. If you have the ability to get your revenue in, pay your expenses, see what’s left, and then decide how are you going to divide it, how much are you going to pay yourself, how much are you going to keep in the bank? But you got to pay yourself something. Even if you have $2 left and you’re paying yourself fifty cents, I don’t care. Something has got to go to your own bank account, something’s got to stay in your business bank account. And that’s just a healthy habits that will help you then get a raise when you need to, or pay yourself a bonus if you made more money at a specific month or anything like that. That will also help you personally gain that confidence that you’re doing something right and your business is growing and your business is supporting you and it’s not just the other way around.

[00:21:16.470] – Deanna Hinsz

Yeah. Have you read the book profit first?

[00:21:19.490] – Inbar Madar

Yes.

[00:21:20.350] – Deanna Hinsz

Have you? Okay. I read that a few years ago and I kind of simplified it, so I thought it was a great book. I don’t know what your feelings are on it, but I implemented what it shared and I created a profit, an expense, taxes, and then what I pay myself. And at first it was kind of scary when I first implemented it because I’m like, oh, my gosh, like, I have to allocate this percentage to certain, you know, different accounts. And I’m like, I’m not going to make anything, you know, like, what am I going to get out of it? But actually, as you were talking, the exact opposite happened. And as you’re sharing about it, I am like, yeah, that happened to me when I started using that, you know, that profit first and then I had that cushion. I actually, the money that I had in my accounts increased a lot. And I was like, oh, my gosh. And I realized I had so much more money. I had been wasting more money. Let me put it that way. I ended up at the end of the year with this chunk of money that I was like, the year prior I didn’t have.

[00:22:30.890] – Deanna Hinsz

And I’m like, I totally wasted that on. I don’t even know, you know, because I wasn’t paying attention to my finances until I started doing that. And it’s like, okay, so it created a structure for me. It’s not for everybody, but it did create a structure. And you’re talking, and I’m like, I know what that feels like. I did that.

[00:22:51.790] – Inbar Madar

I love it. Yeah. I think structure is really important. Whether you use something like profit first or different, whatever works for you, you just got to have that structure. Because to your point, if you’re not actually paying attention to what you’re spending your money on and how much you’re making every month, there’s also a lot of emotional stuff that can come. Like, if you can feel, which is my favorite term in business, I have so many clients that will come to me and be like, I feel like I’m losing money, or I feel like I’m doing worse than last year. And guess what? Most of the times that’s not true. But if something shifted in the business, it makes them feel like that, because that’s their fear, which makes sense. But when you’re working with a structure, a budget, a forecast, whatever works for you and you’re seeing it all, you’re zooming out and you’re saying logically, what should I do? And you don’t have to have financial experience to do that. That’s. You can do it. I don’t care where you come from or what your experience is, looking at. Money coming in, money coming out, money left in the bank, you can do it, and you can figure out what you need to change.

[00:24:00.140] – Inbar Madar

And I know you mentioned pricing strategy, and I think that’s a really big part. It’s so important to remember your profits are built out of how much you’re making and how much you’re spending. If how much you’re spending is set in stone, you did it all. You tried it all. There is nothing else to cut. You tried to negotiate your cogs. Whatever it is, that’s it. You can’t do anything else. Then it’s time to look at your pricing and see what is your competitors doing. Are you selling something? Can you craft a message to show the uniqueness or the value that you bring that your competition may not bring and raise your prices even by a little bit? Play around with the numbers, see what it will do to you. Because that’s the other part of making sure you’re financially stable. You look at your expenses, you do your best there, and if it’s not good enough, you want to look at your pricing strategy and figure out how can you charge enough to start making that growth, and then how can you save to reinvest in your business, to hire someone to start that expansion stage.

[00:25:05.740] – Deanna Hinsz

Yeah. I love this. And last week’s episode, I had a photographer on talking about how she had to shift her mindset, realize her value, started writing things out, exactly what you just said and how she raised her prices. So I love that this is piggybacking off of last week’s episode. So you’re just reinforcing that same idea, which is great. So thank you for sharing that.

[00:25:31.180] – Inbar Madar

Yeah.

[00:25:32.010] – Deanna Hinsz

Now what happens? Because now we’re four years out of COVID and I’m glad we’re out of COVID Right. But sometimes the economy or the market, it shifts. Probably not as drastic as that, but it’s. We’re in a political year, so we know that things can change. Right. Just with that sense. So how can businesses stay agile enough so that they can overcome whatever may come. Right. An election year, we never know what’s going to happen.

[00:26:02.210] – Inbar Madar

Yes. So I would argue that we can never know what’s going to happen.

[00:26:05.950] – Deanna Hinsz

Right. You’re right.

[00:26:07.850] – Inbar Madar

It’s also good. I think it’s a good reminder. Sometimes we try to control things or, like, predict things so much. Then when something shifts or like, oh, my God, nothing is going to work now I should just close down. And reality is you never know what’s going to happen, which could be a good thing, if I might say. My favorite example is Covid. Because when Covid happened, so many businesses closed, especially brick and mortars and service based at war in person. And right at the beginning of COVID I was fairly new still as a business consultant, and I was working with a yoga studio in New York. And we sat down with masks and start identifying what that’s going to look like. Because the owner obviously couldn’t do yoga classes anymore. We created a swot analysis for those who don’t know what swot analysis is. SWot stands for strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Your strength and weaknesses are internal. So anything that you’re doing really well or that you need to improve on internally in your business, and then your opportunities and threats or anything that’s happening on the outside. So Covid, for example, is a threat.

[00:27:24.820] – Inbar Madar

It’s coming from the outside into the business, and it’s threatening the stability of it in a situation like that. I like looking at it and saying, can I leverage it into something that can actually produce me profits? Or do I need to take another action, like scaling down, holding off, doing something that is a little bit more preserving the business? In this case, we leveraged Covid, and we launched an online platform for yoga, yoga classes. I think we were one of the first ones to do it. I haven’t seen anyone doing it before us, and I was like, hold on, that’s now a trend. But that actually saved her business. She had a really loyal community that were happy to jump and do it over Zoom, and she just pivoted her business to whatever made sense to her community. Sometimes you can’t do it right. That’s a great example, but sometimes you just can’t. And so you want to try and think outside the box. Can I leverage that? Can I do something that will help me grow, help my client, but also accept that this scenario is happening? And if the answer is no, you just want to take action to keep your business as intact as possible.

[00:28:43.080] – Inbar Madar

Do you need to scale down? Do you need to remove some additional expenses? What do you need to do to keep afloat until. Until that wave goes away? Essentially, I think these are the two main things you want to think about when something like that happens, whether it’s a political year, it’s Covid, inflation is happening. So many things that’s happening. It’s like, yeah, you’re right.

[00:29:05.660] – Deanna Hinsz

It can happen.

[00:29:06.090] – Inbar Madar

Never ending.

[00:29:08.670] – Deanna Hinsz

It really can. So if somebody is listening, if there’s a business owner listening in right now, and they’re facing some challenges, and right now they’re questioning if they’re going to be in business for another year or another six months or two months, what advice would you give them to possibly help them turn it around so that they can continue?

[00:29:32.830] – Inbar Madar

My first advice, and don’t laugh, but I mean it. Take some time off. I know it’s okay. All right, exactly. Usually when I say it to someone, they’re like, no. I’m like, I’m considering closing. I’m not stepping off. But the reason why I always start by taking time off is because your business is your baby and it doesn’t matter if you’re working part time at your business, if it’s a side gig, it doesn’t matter. It’s something that you created. And as humans, we have that connection that I don’t think can be broken of. If my business is successful, I’m successful as a human. If my business fails, I failed as a person. And I know there’s a lot of tips on how to kind of separate it. I don’t think you can. And I’m more of the acceptance in my acceptance phase of saying, you know, what it is, what it is. But sometimes, because it’s so emotional, you can’t see clear. And you may have a solution literally right in front of you that you can’t see. If you’re working 80 hours a week trying to figure out what’s going to work, trying to accept as many clients or do as many promotions, cut down on any expense that you can see, it’s a lot of pressure.

[00:30:48.500] – Inbar Madar

No one can make a good, solid long term decision if you’re using your survival instincts and not your sustainable long term brain. And so taking time off, stepping away, even if it’s 24 hours or 48 hours or something tiny, can help you just clear everything out and get back to it from a place that is way, way cleaner and way more objective. If that doesn’t work, get outside perspective. Whether it’s a coach, a consultant, a friend, a another business owner from your networking group, get someone else to look at it. Because sometimes if we’re still so deep in it, we still can’t see the answer. And then when you feel like you’re in a better place mentally to make a decision, research all of your options, and obviously it’s gonna, it’s gonna vary, right, depending on where the business is at and why they think of closing. But you always want to look back at your purpose. Why did you start your business for yourself, your personal purpose? What were you trying to achieve? Where are you at right now and is it aligning with where you wanted to go? It’s often not going to align if you are at a point of saying, I may close down the business.

[00:32:07.270] – Inbar Madar

People often just take the wrong turns because they get sucked into the day to day and they don’t stop to say, oh, I actually started it to maybe work part time and make my corporate salary and be self employed and that’s it. And now my reality is completely different. All of these pieces you really want to review and then go do your research, whether it’s getting help, getting a loan, if you need to, just get something to get you afloat, looking at your pricing strategy, looking at your expenses, looking at your marketing, go and analyze the whole thing and figure out that roadblock that’s stopping you from moving to that growth phase. But it’s all going to start with your mindset and how clearly can you think right now and do you need that outside perspective to bring these fresh, creative ideas?

[00:33:00.000] – Deanna Hinsz

That’s awesome. And when you did first say, take time off, I’m like, what is she talking about? I did not see that coming. I’m like, I always get that response right. But, but honestly, when there are things, when I have to work on my business and I know that there’s something I want to do or there’s something I need to create that is new, I find myself saying I need to, like, I need to tune out the noise. Like, I want a day with nothing else. I’m not, I’m not putting an hour on my business. I’m like, blocking the day off, turning my phone off, and just thinking about, like, how do I want to create this? What do I want to do? Because there’s too much noise. So I’m like, okay, I do understand that. Like, at first it was like, this is a crazy idea, what she’s saying. But then I’m like, oh, no, I see where she’s going with this. I get it.

[00:33:51.700] – Inbar Madar

I totally need it. Sometimes when I have these challenges in my business, because it happens for everyone, I literally take two nights off and I rent a cabin in the mountains. I’m in Colorado. I don’t do business. I don’t think about business. I don’t do anything business related. I let my brain work. Right? I’m not like, obviously business is going to come up and it’s okay, and I’m letting it come and go. And when I’m back, I’m able to say, well, I’m right now blocking four, 8 hours of my day to just focus and drill down into what’s holding me back. And I’m figuring it out, but I can’t do it before that time off because. Have you seen the movie inside out, too? No, I have about it now. So in that movie, it’s a bunch of emotions in this girl’s brain, basically kind of like, helping her throughout life. And in inside out two, they introduce anxiety. And there’s a very specific scene that I’m thinking about where anxiety is essentially right next to the control panel of this little girl’s brain and anxiety is just spinning, and it’s almost like a tornado.

[00:34:59.320] – Inbar Madar

And no other emotion can come in to help that girl. And that’s where we’re at when you’re thinking, should I keep the business? Should I know? Am I making enough money? Am I doing something wrong? Am I built for it? Am I not built for it? That’s the tornado in your brain. Nothing else can come in and say, well, let me. Let me look at the numbers or like, let me do something really logical. And you got to accept it and say, I got to step back. I got to let an anxiety calm down. I need this tornado to go away, and then I’m going to look at it from a place of confidence and objectivity and not that anxiety controlled place.

[00:35:39.410] – Deanna Hinsz

Wow, that’s great. And what a great description of what that feels like. I did not see it. Now I want to see it. But you described it perfectly. Yeah, I’m going to watch it. I’m going to watch it. How can our listeners connect with you? Which social media are you on most of the time, and what is your website address?

[00:35:59.230] – Inbar Madar

So most of the time I’m on Instagram. My handle is in bar talks business. My website is mibusinessconsulting.com. you can reach me at either. Yeah, I love connecting with people online. Even if you have a question after this episode or whatever, I’m happy to talk to people on DM’s. I. I found this to be the best part of even being on podcasts. Being able to actually talk to people after and create a community even outside of, like, actual clients, it’s very fulfilling on its own.

[00:36:35.600] – Deanna Hinsz

That’s awesome. Thank you so much for being part of this. And all of the links to inbar, you can find them in the notes, so just scroll down or look on Spotify or Apple if you are listening there, YouTube, and you will be able to reach your in bar. Thank you so much. This was wonderful. I really enjoy talking to you.

[00:36:57.800] – Inbar Madar

Me too. Thank you. I had a really good time as well.

[00:37:01.500] – Deanna Hinsz

All right, everybody, we will see you next week. Bye.

[00:37:17.670] – Deanna Hinsz

Thank you for joining me today on today’s episode of She Is Unstoppable. I hope the tools and tips shared by today’s guests inspired you to take your business and leadership skills to the next level. A big thank you to carbon Silk for sponsoring today’s empowering session. Remember to subscribe to our podcast to keep up with all the latest strategies and stories. If you found today’s episode valuable please consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Your feedback not only supports our growth, but also helps others find us. Stay connected with us on Instagram, either Deannahens or we are. She is collective for daily inspiration and additional resources. Tune in next time for more insights that will help you grow and lead with confidence. Thank you for listening and thank you again to carbon Silk for your support. Keep striving and stay unstoppable.