Your Business’ Economic Growth – The Show Must Go On
Today’s economic climate is very challenging, and some small business owners are panicking. One salesmen recently asked his manager if they should “wait until all these economic problems are over” before starting a new sales push.
The manager very wisely told him that, no, the sales push would start now.
While it’s true that foreclosures are up and the market is down, that doesn’t mean that every small business is destined for failure.
In fact, for some businesses, the economic impact will be negligible. Some big businesses are still opening new locations and continuing with expansion plans.
If you haven’t noticed a decrease in revenue, you can also continue with your plans. Just keep a closer eye on the books.
Resist the Urge to Panic
If you notice that the revenue is dipping, don’t panic. Instead, you may have to look for small ways to cut back until the conditions change.
You may just need to shake things up a bit. If you’ve been doing things the same way for years, a small change may be all it takes to help bring the numbers back in line.
For example, how do you make your initial contact with potential customers? If you’ve never tried a mailer, now might be a good time to try it. If you’ve never asked your sales reps to do cold calls before, give that a shot.
You certainly don’t want to abandon your tried and true methods – but adding something new into the mix may bring rewards.
Small Business Economic Issues – Cost Containment
Some business owners’ first thought when seeing a decreasing profit margin is to cut employees. While this is sometimes unavoidable, there may be ways to ride out the storm without losing any employees.
The first thing to go, when necessary, should be the perks: company cars, gas cards, expensive dinners and over-the-top holiday parties.
Depending on your business and how many perks you offer, simple cuts like these might be enough to get you through.
If your business is having economic issues serious enough that you would consider laying off employees, give some thought to across the board temporary pay cuts instead.
Have a meeting with all employees that would be affected and lay it all on the table.
Show them numbers, so they can see the need for such a drastic action.
You should take the same percentage pay cut as your employees. Most importantly, when things get better you should restore them to their current salaries without them having to ask.
Losing a percentage of their salary is going to be better than standing in the unemployment line – but keep in mind that you might lose an employee or two over this decision.
The bottom line is that you will have to do whatever it takes to assure your business’ economic growth in the long run. Hopefully, you’re one of the lucky ones who won’t feel much of a pinch. But if you do, be smart and don’t panic.
