Recession Survival for Small Business
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You CAN live throught this economic downturn if you know what to do. Follow these tips to a better tomorrow. Vicki Garcia has been in business for over 24 years helping small businesses survive, grow and thrive. If you want support, call me.
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Recession Survival for Small Business
- 1. How to Survive, Thrive, and Prosper in the Recession An Interactive, Creative & Practical Guide To Getting Through The Current Economic Slowdown
- 2. Is This a Recession?
- 3. Crisis = Danger + Opportunity
- 5. Don’t Panic Keep it in Perspective Don’t Overreact Keep a Positive Attitude
- 6. Can You Thrive & Grow?
- 7. And, Keep a Positive Attitude! Look for Opportunities Be Prepared to Change Make a Plan
- 8. Operations Barbara Eldridge, President Mind Masters
- 9. Step 1 – Plan Essential Steps
- 10. Step 1 – Plan Essential Steps Clarify Your Vision Think Sub- contractors
- 11. Step 1 – Plan Essential Steps Clarify Your Vision Listen, Learn, and Innovate Whenever Possible Think Sub- contractors
- 12. Step 1 – Plan Essential Steps Clarify Your Vision Listen, Learn, and Innovate Whenever Possible Define the Results You Want Think Sub- contractors
- 13. Step 1 – Plan Essential Steps Clarify Your Vision Listen, Learn, and Innovate Whenever Possible Define the Results You Want Take Time to Make Strategic Plans Think Sub- contractors
- 14. Step 1 – Plan Essential Steps Clarify Your Vision Listen, Learn, and Innovate Whenever Possible Define the Results You Want Take Time to Make Strategic Plans Consider an Acquisition Think Sub- contractors
- 15. Step 1 – Plan Essential Steps Clarify Your Vision Listen, Learn, and Innovate Whenever Possible Define the Results You Want Take Time to Make Strategic Plans Consider an Acquisition Think Sub-Contrators Think Sub- contractors
- 16. Step 2 – Communicate
- 17. Step 2 – Communicate Engage in Strategic Work
- 18. Step 2 – Communicate Engage in Strategic Work Think and Act Like a Leader
- 19. Step 2 – Communicate Engage in Strategic Work Think and Act Like a Leader Know Exactly Who Your Customers Are
- 20. Step 2 – Communicate Engage in Strategic Work Think and Act Like a Leader Know Exactly Who Your Customers Are Quantify Key Processes
- 21. Step 2 – Communicate Engage in Strategic Work Think and Act Like a Leader Know Exactly Who Your Customers Are Quantify Key Processes Protect the Core Business
- 22. Step 2 – Communicate Engage in Strategic Work Think and Act Like a Leader Know Exactly Who Your Customers Are Quantify Key Processes Protect the Core Business Listen to Your People
- 23. Step 2 – Communicate Engage in Strategic Work Think and Act Like a Leader Know Exactly Who Your Customers Are Quantify Key Processes Protect the Core Business Listen to Your People Improve Communications
- 24. Step 2 – Communicate Engage in Strategic Work Think and Act Like a Leader Know Exactly Who Your Customers Are Quantify Key Processes Protect the Core Business Listen to Your People Improve Communications Outsource, Outsource, Outsource
- 25. Step 3 – Take Action
- 26. Step 3 – Take Action Establish and Implement Systems for Every Aspect of Your Business
- 27. Step 3 – Take Action Establish and Implement Systems for Every Aspect of Your Business Always Keep Your Promises
- 28. Step 3 – Take Action Establish and Implement Systems for Every Aspect of Your Business Always Keep Your Promises Reactivate Your Leads e
- 29. Step 3 – Take Action Establish and Implement Systems for Every Aspect of Your Business Always Keep Your Promises Reactivate Your Leads Strengthen Existing Relationships
- 30. Step 3 – Take Action Establish and Implement Systems for Every Aspect of Your Business Always Keep Your Promises Reactivate Your Leads Strengthen Existing Relationships Stay Upbeat
- 31. Step 3 – Take Action Establish and Implement Systems for Every Aspect of Your Business Always Keep Your Promises Reactivate Your Leads Strengthen Existing Relationships Stay Upbeat Automate
- 32. Step 3 – Take Action Establish and Implement Systems for Every Aspect of Your Business Always Keep Your Promises Reactivate Your Leads Strengthen Existing Relationships Stay Upbeat Automate Don’t Stop Growing
- 33. Step 3 – Take Action Establish and Implement Systems for Every Aspect of Your Business Always Keep Your Promises Reactivate Your Leads Strengthen Existing Relationships Stay Upbeat Automate Don’t Stop Growing Don’t do it Alone
- 34. Step 3 – Take Action Establish and Implement Systems for Every Aspect of Your Business Always Keep Your Promises Reactivate Your Leads Strengthen Existing Relationships Stay Upbeat Automate Don’t Stop Growing Don’t do it Alone
- 35. Marketing Vicki Garcia, President Marketing Impressions
- 36. Step 1 – Step it Up
- 41. Step 2 – Change Your Model
- 44. Step 3 – Grow!
- 46. Money Steven Leibold, President San Diego Business Advisors
- 48. Don’t spend your money indiscriminately!
- 49. Move on Slow Payers Quickly
- 50. Place Customers on Auto Bill
- 51. Develop New Pricing Strategies
- 52. Outsource
- 53. Self Finance Customers
- 54. Bill Fast . . . Pay Slow
- 57. Victoria Garcia [email_address] http://www.marketing-impressions.com 858-505-8-46
Editor's Notes
- Everything we’re going to tell you is based on our research of what consultants all over the country are recommending. Plus, our own street level experience in the trenches.
- Ask for Questions
- California has the 6th largest economy in the world - so there is business to be done here, even in down times. But you will need to look harder and work harder.
- Expand your marketing efforts. Whatever you do, don’t go into hermit mode. Lack of visibility will hurt your credibility. Spend your time on what really matters. Have you ever heard of the 80/20 rule? Spend 80% of your time focusing on marketing and delivering your product or service. Study your market . If there ever was a time to completely understand your customer, this is it. Understanding how they feel about what you offer is critical. Is your product or service discretionary or non-discretionary? Any hint of a recession and people start spending less on non-essentials. Make sure your plan reflects essential uses of your product. Reposition your unique selling point to reflect essential use or create additional products and services that are more essential in nature. If what you offer is discretionary, you must take a different approach, educate your market more and make them move you into the non-discretionary column. If what you offer is non-discretionary, make it easier for your customer to buy. Change Your Offer . Part 1. Do not lower your prices. Instead, offer a value added and additional service. Part 2. Start to sell your terms . Arrange financing (see www.Prosper.com and www.accion.com ) or a payment plan yourself. Some financing is available that is industry specific. If you have been working with a firm that does financing for your type of business, call them immediately and encourage them to work with you to generate new financing terms that you can promote. Increase your networking. In the 1990’s many entrepreneurs stopped going to meetings, and a number of organizations disappeared. Wrong! Keep up appearances…literally. Get more active in appropriate associations that lead to leads. Be more persistent . Follow up more. Keep trying and don’t take “no” for the final answer. Act as if your prospect is already your customer.
- Start making referrals. Instead of calling your contacts to see if they have any business for you, start making referrals to other businesses. Be your own “Le Tip” member of one. Nothing generates more business than “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.” Except, you scratch first. In fact, the more you can do to help others through this period, the more your business will benefit. Examine your personal brand . Make sure you stand out in a crowd. Make sure your reputation is sterling. Make sure you are someone people want to trust and do business with. Increase your marketing efforts on line. Web marketing is the most cost effective, inexpensive marketing you can do. Take a class or work with professionals who can help you reach out to your market via the web. Get a grip on Social Networking as a way to market. What is happening now is that the consumer is starting to use the internet as a way to talk back to the seller and tell the seller (company) what it likes and doesn’t. The consumer is no longer passively taking what is handed to them. The paradigm is shifting and it’s a little nuts right now.
- Social Media Marketing includes writing content that is, unique, and newsworthy. This content can then be used on line in a variety of ways or by creating a “viral” video on video sites. Social Media is about being social so this can include getting involved in other blogs, forums, meetups, and niche communities. Take the PB class for more into. Increase your marketing efforts off line. Advertising is expensive. Can you use your time to attract more customers? Write articles for newsletters distributed by associations you belong to. Develop your speaking abilities and take your expertise on the road as a presenter. SEE PB Class. Dig out lost proposals. You never know if those lost proposals went to another company that may not have been the perfect fit.
- Try some “under the radar” low cost marketing tricks. Put signs in the front yard if you are working in or on a house. Whenever you visit a client, stop by several other businesses in the building and drop off your business cards. Track, track, track. If you can’t track it, don’t do it. Use a specific subdomains and 1-800 numbers on your materials and adverftising so you can pin point where your leads are coming from. If it isn’t working quickly, stop doing it. Stop any image advertising. It is ineffective unless done over many years and the results can be difficult to track. If advertising has worked for you in the past, make it direct response and give your potential customers a reason to act with a compelling offer they know is valuable. Track the productivity of your sales people . In most companies a small percentage of sales staff account for a majority of sales. You may need to weed out non-productive staff. You may also want to invest in sales training as a way to upgrade your staff. The point is to invest in sales and marketing, but invest wisely. Revamp your marketing tools. For those marketing techniques that are working for you, this might be the time to revamp your marketing tools. Support your sales people . Could your sales people use more training to close the deal? Online training cuts costs and time.
- See a Need and Fill It. There is a move toward “commodification ” of services and products. Basically this is a process that transforms the market for a unique, branded product into a market based on undifferentiated price competition a product or service essentially becomes a commodity when the repeated changes- because of competition-outplay themselves. It is essentially called a performance oversupply- which means that the market is performance saturated and any differentiation, even when being offered, is more than what the market demands. "When consumers perceive that all products are the same, their only real factor for selecting one supplier over another becomes price" [1] . Commodification can be the desired outcome of an entity in the market, or it can be an unintentional outcome that no party actively sought to achieve. Examples Insurance Travel Cameras Medical Advice Legal Services Membership Websites to Educate You Anything you can buy cheaper on the Web
- Make time for face time. It's easy to slip into the habit of staying in the office and doing business by phone and email. Drop by or schedule a time to meet with clients. Listen for opportunities where you can offer a solution for their problems. Be customer centric . Lock in customer loyalty. The entire company should have customer satisfaction as its number one mantra. Do not scrimp on customer service. Not only do you need customer goodwill but you need to understand customer problems. Get as close to your customers as possible. Call and ask your customers how they are doing and what they might need from you. Expand your income streams, especially passive income . What logical ways can you expand your income? If you are in a service industry think about products or information products and start thinking about valuable, meaningful ways you can move in this direction. When you have multiple steams of income of income you are less vulnerable and your business is stronger ...and thus you are stronger. Look for affiliations . Build capacity and scalability without increasing your fixed costs by partnering with other firms, using or being a consultant, hiring contractors. Each of these strategies enables scale to be increased or decreased rapidly when the economy turns. Work as a sub-contractor to a larger firm that specializes in a market you haven’t tapped. Partner up with other pros who target the same customer and create co-operative marketing campaigns to lower the cost and share contacts.
- Accept “C” clients. Everyone wants the “A” and “B” clients who are easy to work with, and pay in advance or on time. You might have to put up with some difficult people in order to keep your cash flow. Create package options. In hearty economic times, there's more to go around. When companies face a possible recession, slashing expenses is one of the first things companies do. To stand out from others, create package deals that offer lots of value-add for the buck. This way you will stand out as a good deal. Carve out new niches. Specialization creates credibility and brings in news customers. Identify a specific target market that would derive the most benefit from what you have to offer and focus your attention there. You'll spend less in building awareness and have the opportunity to create a more successful viral marketing campaign. Research. A little on line research can produce big results. Make sure your planning includes investigating the fastest growing markets for 2008 and 2009. Besides luxury, health, seniors, and pets, you'll find some surprises for the next few years. Capitalize on them! Do more for less. We aren't talking about giving away the farm. We are talking about doing just slightly more for the same amount. If you would normally tack on fees for an item, throw it in for free. Gifting ignites the law of reciprocity and loyalty follows. Move quickly. Put systems, marketing campaigns, and people in place sooner than later. Businesses that take a proactive approach will feel less blind-sided. Create your plan now and implement it. And whatever you do, don't cut back on sales and marketing initiatives!
- Step #3 – Grow! Seek to expand your market share. While this may seem counter intuitive, businesses may need to increase their marketing share if only to maintain flat revenues. In a declining market, businesses need to capture a bigger piece of a smaller pie. Even in good times, margins are under continual pressure and with energy costs increasing in a declining market, margins will be squeezed from every direction. When markets are contracting, the more marginal competitors are likely to leave the market or go out of business. Recessions are an excellent time to expand market share. Seek customers globally While this may not be an option for every business, the decline in the dollar has created enormous opportunities for businesses in the United States. Given the strength in the Chinese currency, domestic opportunities may be increased as the benefits of outsourcing to China may be diminished and companies are increasingly bringing back production to the United States. Consider offering your products or services on-line. Even a small ecommerce site can generate revenues. In a growing number of opportunities, you can affiliate with websites and offer their products on your website, for a passive commission. Every day it seems some new website pops up offering a service that was once thought to be only workable face to face. Consider putting your expertise to work via an on-line, email system that allows you to find customers all over the world…or just in your state.
- Ask for Questions
- Questions?