There are clear signs that the global economy is in a deep recession. As small business owners, we are all feeling the economic pain.
So what is a recession? The Federal Government considers the U.S. in a recession when it experiences two consecutive quarters of negative Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth. However, on a more practical basis, a recession generally refers to a slowdown in business activity and consumer spending.
So how does a business survive a recession? Here is a list of small business recession survival strategies:
- Review and upgrade the controls surrounding your small business to avoid any financial improprieties.
- Increase your advertising budget, but only use advertising vehicles that have worked for you in the past. This will ensure that you will receive an adequate return on your advertising investment.
- Offer aggressive sales and discounts to your customers in order to encourage customer loyalty.
- Review your business expenses on a daily basis and reduce your costs where appropriate.
- Focus on providing superior customer service. Keeping your existing customers is a critical objective during a recession.
- Brainstorm creative ways to increase revenue and reduce costs everyday. Make brainstorming a part of your daily routine.
- Increase the number of hours you work on your business, especially working on your sales and marketing efforts.
If you find yourself in a situation where you need help with your business, there are some very good online resources for small businesses. Here are a few.
- Small Business Administration (http://www.sba.gov) - Provides tools and resources for small businesses.
- Score (http://www.score.org) – Provides free small business advice provided by over 10,500 retired business executives.
Recessions can be a scary time for small businesses. However, businesses that recognize the environment they are operating in, and quickly take aggressive actions, can survive even the worst of recession.
Allot of people that i talk with, that are in the online business or the entertainment spectrum of business are all unaffected, some are making more money now, then when they were before the economy took a hit
Allot of people that i talk with, that are in the online business or the entertainment spectrum of business are all unaffected, some are making more money now, then when they were before the economy took a hit
The rule and the strategy will remain the same: baffle your competitors and stay ahead in the competition either by offering quality service at a reasonable rate or by spearheading a marketing blitzkrieg.
regards
shimul
website design
Message Edited by NicoleD on 12-15-2009 09:58 AM
I removed the offending links. I think the rest is okay.
it doesn't seem too bad to me - i thought they were attempting at starting a discussion rather than promoting their own business or anything of that nature...
it doesn't seem too bad to me - i thought they were attempting at starting a discussion rather than promoting their own business or anything of that nature...
Tried to move the edited post back to the board, but you can't select 'only this message' .. no way to move it without the moderator comments attached... any ideas?
Sobesoft -
Thanks for starting this discussion. You're right - recessions can be a scary time for small businesses. I continue to be encouraged by the determination of the business owners here in the Community.
GoodFTA and shimul - Thanks for sharing your thoughts! It's great to see examples of small business owners finding real success in a difficult financial environment. :)
As to the point about only using advertising vehicles that have worked in the past, I would offer the suggestion that you might also considering a small percentage of your budget to new vehicles, but tightly control that, be disciplined about it make sure you can track it precisely through action points.
This is a good question.
There are some simple answers. The first thing is that there is a business for every market. The key to survival is you bring in more than you spend. Next is to focus on sales. You need to have a product or service that people want to buy. Sounds oversimplified, but it is that simple.
We have a 15 year old growing business and this year was our best ever because we focused on selling and not spending. We build real estate websites and systems to generate real estate leads. Our industry has been clobbered by the recession however, we got creative with our marketing, focused on referrals from existing customers and worked on educating our REALTOR audience with webinars on how they can use technology to earn more business.
Social marketing through Facebook and Twitter have helped to reach larger audiences without any costs as well, just a time investment.
I am a HUGE believer of SCORE as well. Those guys have been a part of our team for some time.
Partnering with other businesses that sell to the same audience with a non competitive service or product has also helped to save costs and increase exposure to new opportunities.
Just some thoughts. I look forward to seeing more ideas!
s.
Message Edited by ChristineL on 11-27-2009 12:28 PM
Focus heavily on SEO and bringing in free visitors from the search engines. It costs infinitely less than advertising but if done correctly can give amazing results. As a business owner its hightly worth educating yourself in it, if you outsource it to someone else you can pretty much guarantee they wont do as good a job as you at they will cut corners.
GoodFTA | Contributor | 8/17/2009 - 7:07 am
shimul | Contributor | 8/18/2009 - 7:17 am
StuartR | Former Moderator | 2/12/2010 - 12:21 am
NicoleD | Former Moderator | 2/12/2010 - 12:21 am
NicoleD | Former Moderator | 2/12/2010 - 12:21 am
ZanetaB | Former Moderator | 2/12/2010 - 12:21 am
NicoleD | Former Moderator | 8/20/2009 - 9:35 pm
paulms | Contributor | 11/26/2009 - 3:23 am
1parkplace | Performer | 11/26/2009 - 6:55 pm
SimonTurner | Creator | 11/27/2009 - 6:24 am
Join The Discussion
You must be logged in to join the discussion. If you already have an SBA Community account, Log In to join the discussion.
New users, Register for a new account and join the conversation today!