News tagged outsourcing

8 Ways to Help Your Business Weather the Recession

January 19, 2009

8. Look to “low-hanging fruit” technology to become more efficient and more productive.

Many of us may not be using technology to its fullest potential. Explore ways to use your tech investment to help drive down other costs and accommodate more sales without having to hire more staff. Look at free or nearly free technology from the Web, such as Google Apps for business. No matter what size of company, we recommend
Google Apps to all of our clients because it is a cost efficient way to stay connected. Consolidate all of your email, calendars, communications, and information sharing without compromising control and flexibility.

7. Consider outsourcing.

Why have everyone in house? Unless employing people is the most-cost efficient way of getting the job done, outsourcing is usually a great alternative. In many cases, outsourcing is an excellent way to make better use of time and energy costs, to redirect or conserve energy, and to make more efficient use of land, labor, capital, information technology, and resources. Outsourcing is a great method to extend your organization’s capacity and help bring a fresh perspective to light. Couldn’t an outsider’s point of view be a huge business advantage over your competition?

6. Re-examine every one of your operational services.

Sometimes we use business services for years without realizing there may be substantially cheaper – and better – options on the market. Look at your telecommunications, your computer network, and your hardware. For instance, you might want to evaluate services like Skype, VoIP or wireless phones with calling circles to save on telecommunications costs. Even look at things like your insurance and your travel suppliers to look at ways to cut other operational expenses.

5. For start-ups, start selling something asap.

Cash flow is crucial. If you run a start-up, don’t wait until your product is perfect. And if your main products are big-ticket items with long sales cycles, come up with some lower-priced items to sell pending the big sales closing. Negative cash flow is the big “gotcha” for smaller firms — you don’t want to run out of cash before you are out of the gate.

4. Cut existing staff only as a last resort.

Most small businesses don’t have much staff to begin with. So cutting staff often means losing a vital lifeline and can sometimes be a surefire way to business suicide. With every forced cut it will probably have a demoralizing effect on the remaining staff. “Am I next?” syndrome can sweep over the office and your employees may find work elsewhere as a desperate act of self-preservation. I’d rather ask people to take temporary, across-the-board pay cuts, or eliminate some benefits, than lay people off… unless pushed to the wall.

3. Focus on customer retention instead of customer acquisition.

In any economy it is ALWAYS tougher to gain new customers than it is to keep existing ones. Now is a great time to re-evaluate what you are doing well and what needs improvement. Unsure? Ask! Start a “listening lab” – a listening lab is one of the best marketing projects you can undertake. It shows your customers you are committed to keeping their business, and it helps you make the important decisions to streamline and improve your service. If you have to make a choice, focus on relationship marketing and building the relationships with your existing customers versus new customer acquisition.

2. Don’t cut marketing.

For some reason when times get tough, many business owners cut funding to the one area that is designed to keep business coming – marketing. Cutting marketing means cutting your business off at the knees. When customer spending slows down, make sure it’s your competitors’ sales that slow, not yours. Instead of cutting down your marketing spend be more aggressive and more creative at marketing than your peers. Believe it or not you have been given an opportunity; a recession is your chance to gain customers and help grow your business. When the economy turns around you will be miles ahead of your competition.

And the number 1 way to help your business weather the recession is…

1. Don’t cheap out on your accountant.

Now is the time to have a kung fu grip on your business numbers, more so than you’ve ever had before. Your accountant is your sensei. Bow to your sensei! Cash management, and management of accounts receivables, will make or break you during tough times. Weekly – even daily – attention to your numbers will give you early warning of issues and buy you more time to adjust.