Surviving and Thriving during Tough Times Part 3 - Business Opportunity 101

Posted by Laddie Blaskowski on Nov 25, 2008

In the first article of this series, we discussed the psychology of surviving tough times and strategies to make your business stronger. In the second article, we discussed business practicality and offered additional suggestions for surviving and thriving in difficult economic times. Today we’re going to talk about opportunity.

When the economy looks bleak and business is uncertain, it can be hard to think positively. But if you step back and look somewhat objectively at the situation, you might find opportunities for your business in a down economy that might not otherwise exist. Here are some examples:

Opportunity #1: Market and Sell Better than Your Competitors.

Often when business is thriving, business owners and professionals simply don’t have or make the time to promote their companies. Some of your competitors will reduce marketing and cut salespeople in order to save money.

While your competitors are pulling back their marketing efforts, you should use this time to advertise and promote why you’re different. This is a great time to get deals from advertisers or marketing companies whose businesses might have slowed and need more work. If money is tight, use outsourcing to create marketing materials.

Ramp up your sales efforts. Hire a salesperson willing to work on more of a commissioned basis (more likely when the economy is a slump and people are looking for work). Explore additional products or services you could offer your customers. Take clients to coffee or lunch and ask them what your company could do to better serve them. Ask for referrals. Attend business and professional functions to keep your name and company on people’s top of mind awareness. This is an important time to promote your business.

Opportunity #2: Time to really examine your business.

When times are great, it’s hard to find the time to make improvements to your business. If your business has slowed, now could be a great opportunity to improve your company internally. If cash flow is tight, begin with areas where you can improve efficiency andprofitability. You may now have the time you need to re-focus, make plans and regroup for going forward. Examine all parts of your business to determine how you can improve. Consider the following ideas:

• Barter for services—trade someone for something you need and want.

• Look for talented people—either as new employees or as contractors. There are a lot of talented people looking for work.

• Analyze how you can improve the workflow and cut out wasteful activities.

• Negotiate better deals with vendors.

Opportunity #3: Tighten your operations.

Now is a good time to look at your expenses and areas where costs could be minimized. A practically limitless opportunity exists today for reducing expenses with outsourcing,whether using people locally, somewhere in the United States or overseas.

We use outsourcing in our firm and I encourage my consulting clients to try it as a cost-cutting and efficiency measure. My rule of thumb is if a task doesn’t require that a piece of paper be handled, it can most likely be outsourced.

Opportunity #4: Capture Customers from the Fall-out.

Everyone in business has competition and a sad fact of a downturn in the economy is that some of these companies may not be able to survive. This could prove beneficial to your business if you are able to pick up their customers.

If you know that a competitor is going out of business, consider taking him or her to lunch. Offer sincere condolences, ask if there is anything you could do to help, and ask whether they would be willing to refer their customers to you. It might give them some peace of mind to know that their customers would be left in good hands and this could provide your company with additional work.

Of course, you may not know when a competitor is going to close its doors. In this case,be prepared to:

• Call their customers, if you know who they are.

• Call the failing company immediately to see if you can buy their phone number.

• Talk to the company’s owner about buying their customer base (usually for a percentage of future business for a period of time).

If you’re uncomfortable with this approach, now may be a good time to simply increase your sales and marketing efforts, knowing that you can fill the void left by a failing competitor.

As a business consultant who is passionate about small businesses and professional practices, I believe these companies are truly the backbone of our economy and that each and every one is important. There is no denying that the economy is making times tough for a lot of people but I really believe that, by taking the measures outlined in this series,many businesses can be strengthened and may even thrive while weathering the storm.

BusinessTruth™: The only constant in business is change, so embrace it.