Hello all, long time redditor and thankful for all the help and camaraderie over the years. (made this account to keep it separate from personal)

I have a business with 15 employees in California and suffice to say, wages keep going up and the price we can charge for services has repeatedly hit the ceiling and does not project to get back to breakeven. Rent keeps going up, inventory and inflation effects us, and the services we offer are competitive with competition, but we have been bleeding money for 9 months now and I don’t really know how much more can be handled if nothing improves. Been open for over 7 years but the pandemic unfortunately emptied savings and more impactfully changed the playing field. This is for a salon and staff are employees whom do not rent.

All that being said, the lease no longer has a personal guarantee but there is a couple more years on the lease left. Every month staying open is losing money, but less than just shutting down if lease obligations continue.

I will be reaching out to professional help regarding this but was wondering if this lovely community sub has advice, tips, warnings regarding this.

The following information is details that may or may not be helpful:

!Bills piling up, credit cards maxed, rent is 1.5 months behind now, PPP+PPP2 achieved, waiting on ERTC funds, cash basis accounting.!<

!(rough numbers below, all monthly)!<

!Prior to pandemic; rent $6.5k, rev $45k, payroll $25k, expenses $5k 2023; rent $8k, rev $35k, payroll $25k, expenses $8k !<

!When ERTC comes we will have liquid to survive longer but there is no current projection that shows breaking even again. This business requires that staff are skilled and do not jump ship but their options to work under the table elsewhere is high and I don’t necessarily blame them for choosing that path. Our rent is higher than competitors but usually resulted in higher client throughput but this hasn’t been the case post-pandemic.!<

I am living in constant terror and everything is gaining interest with no end in sight.