Tips for Struggling Businesses in a Recession
Most businesses are caught with their guard down when a recession occurs. Business owners and management are often ill prepared to deal with the economic realities of business crises, and for those who do not learn to cope with this struggling environment, business closure is often the result. As a business there are things you can do to survive the economic downturn.
Market Yourself
If there was ever a time when a business needs to concentrate on making the sale, it is during a recession. This is the time when you need as much cash inflow as possible and sales are your best way to stimulate this. Use clever marketing techniques and focus your key resources on sales with minimal advertising. One of the time tested marketing strategies is taking extra care of your customers to increase loyalty, even when the economy recovers.
Communicate and Negotiate
A company that has effective communication with personnel, key suppliers and customers is very likely to survive the recession. Use proper communication to negotiate better credit terms with your lenders and suppliers, shorter credit periods with your debtors and lower salaries with your employees in order to maintain healthy finances.
Build a Strong Management Team
Most businesses choose to downsize their operations during business crises by cutting down the number of employees including key management staff. Strong leadership is essential for survival in a competitive environment and you will need key personnel when the economy recovers. Use this time to enhance key people\’s skills for a strong and cohesive management team.
Measure and Improve Your Effectiveness
The decisions that you make during a recession will be instrumental in the direction your company heads after the recovery. Put in place control measures to gauge the effectiveness of decisions and identify shortfalls for correction in advance.
About Jim Jacques
Jim Jacques is the President of United Virtual Office, a leading nationwide provider of virtual offices for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. A virtual office includes an address at a prestigious business location in the US, live virtual receptionist, courier services and more. Google +