How to Restart A Closed Business

The economy, life changes, and unforeseen obstacles can sometimes cause your business to slow, or even prematurely close. However, there may come a time when you want to reopen your closed business or restart with some changes. Restarting your business can be just as exciting (and hopefully a little less stressful, since you have some experience) as when you originally opened the doors.

Learn from Your Experience

Understand why your original business closed. There is no reason to restart a business, if you are unprepared for the same problem happening again.

• Economic conditions change. You need to make sure that your business is more flexible and less dependent on specific sector or market condition. What are you going to do differently this time around to ensure that your business can still be successful under changing economic conditions?
• Unforeseen obstacles or roadblocks. With some experience under your belt, can you better avoid these roadblocks? Were these roadblocks something that could have been avoided with better planning?

Remember that the reasons you had to close up shop may have been out of your control, but understanding why and how it happened should better prepare you. You can never be too prepared when you are investing time and money into starting a business.

Revisit your Business Plan

You probably had a business plan, market research, feasibility study, and contacts for your previous business. Those all need to be revisited - and possibly redone in their entirety - to reflect any changes. As most business owners know, time is an important factor in starting and running a business. Your original market research may be outdated because your customers and competitors changed while your business was closed.

How to Restart Your Business

Restarting your business depends greatly on whether or not you officially dissolved your business when you decided to close. You should always dissolve your business when you decide to close up shop because there can be severe consequences if you do not.

• If you did not officially dissolve your business, you should contact your stat;s State Department and Department of Revenue/Taxing to find out if there are any penalties or fines that have been placed on your account since you closed. Once any penalties or fines have been taken care of, you can just begin business as usual if you are restarting the exact same business. If you are starting a new business, it might be better for you to officially close your business and then register a new one.

• If you did officially dissolve your business, restarting will be the same as starting a new business. You will need to decide your business structure, register with the state, and get an Employer Identification Number from the IRS. All of the steps for starting a business can be found at 10 Steps to Starting a Business at Business.gov. Some of these steps may not be necessary since you may be more knowledgeable in the process than the first time around.

Restarting your business is a great opportunity to get back out there and learn from your mistakes. Whether or not it is a new business or a reincarnation of your previous business, use your experience to make it more successful and rewarding.

Related Resources

• 10 Steps to Starting a Business
• 7-Step Checklist to Closing Your Business
• Closing Up Shop? Avoid Fines and Lingering Liability by Dissolving Your Business

Have you restarted your business, after temporarily closing? If so, please share your experiences and advice here. If you have more questions on restarting a business, ask them in our Community.