If your business operates as a supplier to a small group of large brands, then this will probably be providing the vital foundations that underpin your operation, ensuring its survival. But what happens if one of those businesses fails? This can and does happen even to some household names as we have seen in the past 12 months.
Losing your biggest customer can plunge your own business in big trouble if there are no other immediate alternatives and this may well be playing on the minds of those companies supplying the likes of Toys R Us and Maplin at the start of this year.
Both these firms have entered administration after failing to find investors in an all to familiar story of high street brands imploding in the face of competition from online rivals and a softening of consumer demand for products.
So what do you do if you find your supplier business in a vulnerable position? The answer is not to put your business in that position in the first place. Problems such as late payments of invoices and ongoing reductions in orders can be a clear sign than the business you supply to may be in trouble.
If you pay attention to some of these signals and plan ahead for a time when you may need to replace that client, then you will be ensuring your business survives no matter what may or may not happen in the future.