Businesses, no matter how small or large, have a tendency to hit a slump. What’s more alarming is when the company starts heading toward bankruptcy. However, owner pride oftentimes clouds judgment and this only worsens the problem. Acknowledging the problem is usually the first step toward a turnaround. Otherwise, you’re just risking all your work to go kaput.

Here are seven questions to ask yourself. If you answer yes to most (if not all) of these, then press the panic button.

• Are you feeling so stressed out (food binging, insomnia…)?
• Are you scoring a loss rather than a profit?
• Are you having trouble meeting the payroll?
• Are you using personal funds to assist business?
• Is your bank cutting your credit line until loans get paid?
• Are customers complaining a lot more than before?
• Is your comptroller in the verge of suicide? (Okay, this may be extreme but you get the drift)

Small business guru Jane Applegate recommends getting a turnaround consultant - someone who’d take over for you while there’s a crisis to be solved. However, this doesn’t mean that you have the excuse to bail out on your company for the mean time. You still have to be around to answer questions. In any case, if the problem has gone for too long, even the best turnaround consultant may not be able to work miracles for you.