When you started your business, you had high hopes for the future. Everyone goes into business knowing the statistics on the failure rate of startups are high— but they’re convinced that they are going to be the business that makes it. You almost certainly felt the same; assuming that your idea, and your drive, would be enough to ensure you made it in a world where “making it” is ever more difficult.

When businesses fail, it tends to happen slowly, so slowly that you might not even notice it’s happening initially. Yes, you know that there are issues; but they don’t seem to be critical, not enough to sink a business. Things devolve over time, inch by inch, gathering speed until the point where the problems can’t be ignored anymore. This long, drawn-out death is incredibly stressful, and also something of a waste of time. If you knew that your business was doomed to fail earlier, you could have called in insolvency practitioners and begun moving on with your life. Instead, the process just drags out, sometimes for months or even years.

In an effort to try and prevent this long, slow slide into the end of a business, below are a few signs that your business is heading in the wrong direction. These are small changes, but important– if you manage to identify them in time, you can move on and begin a new venture before the rot truly sets in.

SIGN: You’ve Changed The Language Of How You Talk About The Future

You can discover a lot about how you feel about your business by examining the language you use. If you use words like “if” and “perhaps” when contemplating the future for your company, this is a sign that some part of you already knows that the future is compromised.

SIGN: You’ve Tried Multiple Methods To Improve

When you have run through a number of different attempts to help increase sales, boost engagement, and create a buzz around your company, it’s worth wondering why your techniques are not working. If so many different ideas have failed to increase outcomes for you, is it just because you’re misapplying the techniques? Or is there an undercurrent that suggests it is the business itself that has the problem?

SIGN: You See Nothing But Problems In Your Diary

If you look ahead over your work schedules, do you see exciting appointments with potential clients, product launches, or dates for interviews with a new potential employee? Or do you see nothing but deadlines, debt ceilings, and worrying meetings with creditors? If your diary more closely resembles the latter, then this is a bad sign.

SIGN: You’re Beginning To Think Of Life Away From Your Business

If you have wondered what life would be like without your business — and have even found the idea quite positive — then this, too, is a sign that part of you already knows that the end may be nigh.

If you find that your business is experiencing two or more of the above, it might be time to take a long, hard look at the future viability of your business. Wrapping a business up is a tough decision to take, but it’s infinitely preferable to exhausting yourself trying to carry on in vain.