Have you ever come close to running out of fuel when driving? The reference “running on fumes” comes from this situation, where you are using up every last drop of fuel that you have nothing much else left to run the car, except fumes. In the business world, the phrase is used when a company has run out of money – finding it hard to maintain operations.
For example…
Alfred’s photo framing shop used to have great business, when people wanted traditional photo frames to display their precious memories. But, in the face of technology that allows digital photos to be imprinted on many everyday items and other framing options like canvas, his business started struggling. So much so, that the income he generated was not enough to sustain running the business. Alfred ran his business on fumes for a while, before sadly, deciding to shut down.
