The advice about taking money out of the business in the form of repayments on directors loans rather than PAYE income is very important. It is not only tax efficient but it reduces your companies liabilities.
Pavb, you need to take a long hard look at the medium term viability of your business. Keep the emotion out of it and keep your ego out of it as well; we all invest a lot of ourselves in what we do, never more so than when it’s your own business. Ask yourself if someone else owned your business and they asked you for cash in these circumstances would you give it to them?
You also need to ask yourself why you are in business. Many people get so wrapped up in the success of their company, their project, that they forget that it is there to provide them with a better income than they would get working for someone else. If you are not paying yourself as much as the people who are working for you and will not be doing so for the foreseeable future then you are working for them, not the other way around.
Nobody on this site can tell you if your business is viable; only you can make that assessment and it is that assessment that matters. If you can say beyond a hunch and some wishful thinking that things will improve next year then keep at it and pump in your savings or, if possible, get a bank loan but if you think your competition can bleed you dry before they bleed themselves dry then call it quits.
Talk to your accountant. Ask them to take a look at the accounts of your competitors on cro.ie and give an opinion on how they look in comparison to you. The accounts are always limited but it will tell you something.