Owners of small businesses should assess the state of their firm as the economy continues to slow, one industry body has said.
Simon Briault, spokesperson for the Federation of Small Businesses, explained that as there are no hard and fast rules about where firms should make savings, every SME boss should take the time to carefully examine their company's finances to see where savings can be made.
He said: "Our advice is that you assess everything - everyone should do that to make sure that they are making the savings where they can."
Mr Briault added: "The important thing is to take some time and see where your business is at the moment and what is likely to happen."
Firms should forecast as much as they can, he concluded.
In January 2007, Equifax reported that the retail sector saw the biggest year-on-year increase in business failures in 2006, with 17.2 per cent more companies failing than in 2005.
