Grow your Business in a Recession

Written by: Michael Newcomb - President, WorldWise, Inc.

A debate has been going on for the last few years in this country regarding that facts that we are headed for a recession or we are already in one. Now Michigan has already arrived and many businesses weren't prepared and suffered for it. If you drive up and down Woodward Avenue, Telegraph, I-75 or any other major highway in the Detroit area you'll notice several vacant office buildings, vacant retailers and homes for sale. The automotive companies have faced many challenges and one is the high cost of building cars, so they've moved most of their factories overseas or down to Mexico, which has caused us thousands of jobs and caused the Dettroit area and Michigan for that matter alot of pain.

Well the facts are real....now what? That's simple....you have two options...do nothing and fail or take action and get prepared now to survive and grow your business. While others do nothing market share will be available and it's an opportunity for you to take on new client's. Sounds easy enough, but how does one get prepared to grow in a recession. If our country not just Michigan goes into a recession this year many companies will have to close their doors or at least down size their operations, which means they will layoff support and service staff causing many companies to suffering in customer service areas.

The key factors to growing your business in a recession is to make major changes quickly. Listed below are the action items you need to add to your business plan right now.

1. Review all your bills and see what you can cancel without losing service or quality in your products.
2. Call your vendors and ask them to reduce their costs by 20%...tell them in order for you to keep them you need help.
3. Call your banker and ask for a refinancing of all your debt and restructure it asap.
4. Go electronic - move your billing to email
5. Tighten your collection process - right out a strict policy on payments and invoicing.
6. Offer your client's discounts for adding on more services with you.
7. Offer free services to your client's for signing up longer term contracts.
8. Move your ad budget from phone books to the web to lower marketing costs.
9. Roll out new services or products at least every 3 months during the recession process.
10. Slow down spending on new ventures.

Now if you take these action items and actually make them apart of your current business plan you will not only survive the next recession, but while others are closing their doors you will be growing your business.

2008 will be what you make it.