The challenges small and medium businesses (SMBs) face are numerous. From lead generation, to brand recognition, customer retention, customer service, cash flow management, and market changes, the list of the pervasive issues in the retail space is long. Money problems in their various forms are top of most lists of company woes.

For small businesses, the major worries are clients stalling payments, unexpected outgoings, and outstanding bills that won’t wait to be paid. Failure to diversifying client bases is the second common problem and this ties into lead generation.

When your income has you riding one “whale”, that one whale could dash off to do business with someone else, leaving you drowning in the ocean the next day. The “small fish” and their small incomes alone would not suffice to make ends meet. This can lead to a very disastrous situation. The attrition rate of your existing customers can drive your business into the ground if you are not careful enough.

Retailers must implement tactics to help them get the most out of their customer base and increase their customer lifetime value. Keeping up with market changes is another one. If your company operates in a sector that experiences frequent upheaval, you have to be prepared for constant change.

How you deal with sudden disruption and work on training your employees to be agile in the face of uncertainty can help you navigate through rough terrains. Deciding when to abandon a strategy that’s not working and when to switch can save you money. Sometimes marketing channels that seemed full of potential don’t pan out, and new product lines don’t catch on as anticipated. Failures are an essential part of business growth, and owners must train themselves to recognize where they occur, divert resources accordingly and learn from those mistakes.