What you need to do to prepare for the Upcoming Recovery?
Newsletter Archive
California Business Resource
Copyright © 2009 by CaliforniaBusinessResource.com · All Rights reserved · E-Mail: kathekline@ofdenterprises.com
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
General Business Information
Recession has taken its toll on every small or big business. Are you aware that almost 25% of the small businesses that shut down during disaster fail to recover and never open up again? It is always important to have a plan and the resilience to get back on your feet, and with economic recovery on the horizon, your business should be ready to deal with this fast changing economic climate.
A recent survey by New York Times/CBS News Poll indicated the Americans who believe that the country is heading in the right direction is the highest in more than four years. Perfect news for all entrepreneurs, we all must now stop thinking negatively and start preparing our business for the good times. Let’s see what we need to do now to get our business ready:
The last thing you would like to lose now is your customer’s loyalty. A store with empty shelves, not enough personnel to attend to your customer’s needs and untimely delivery are only few of the reasons to let your customers walk out of that door and never come back. If it is not possible to start hiring full time employees, you can always recruit trainees and contract employees to keep your business going.
Are you using customer loyalty programs? Are you collecting email addresses for your newsletter? There are very good and inexpensive email solutions out there that can help you keep in contact with your customers. You can develop coupons, birthday programs, or just use it to keep in touch with your customers. Be sure and have an “opt out” button for your customers who do not like receiving email, and be sure not to over do it. Consider sending an email no more than once a month is probably a good policy, depending on your product or service.
Proactive approach
It is important to prepare a list of your regular customers and put an effort to serve them properly especially in tough times. Try to have more than one supplier so that you can have a backup. Identify your major resources; suppliers, vendors, and shippers and interact with them regularly. Develop strong professional relationships so that you have people by your side in the hour of the need.
Renegotiation
It is the best time to renegotiate your terms with your bank, vendors and suppliers. You can get better deals and some relaxation to overcome the current market turmoil. If you renegotiate terms, it will be easier for you to rebound when the economy picks up, and in the meantime can help the economy to grow. If you have a lease, now is the perfect time to renegotiate your lease. National averages for commercial property vacancies are somewhere in the 15% range, depending on the area. Take advantage of that and renegotiate.
Preparing for future
Follow a futuristic approach. Think about what you need to do to get your business running in coming times. Rethink your incentive plans, business plans, monetary benefits and cost effective measures. Innovate on the technology front and introduce smart marketing techniques that are pocket friendly but do no compromise on the objective like online newsletters.
If your business plan hasn’t been updated or is non-existent, now is the time to take a weekend and spend some time on your business. What you do in the next few months could very well determine if you are in business this time next year.
Understanding the sentiments
Your employees are your assets. Demoralized employees will not be able to give their best and will move out as soon as the economy starts reviving. You will therefore have to shell out even more money to keep your business afloat. We are not saying that you should not tell them to cut costs or rather no raises this year but show sincere commitment from your side. Float new agendas and new incentive plans to keep them motivated. Communicate at regular intervals and relieve them of any fears they might have. If you are stopping them to take leaves, you too should refrain from such activities. The idea is to lead by example.
The economy is still in a very bad shape but it has started showing signs of turnaround with growing home sales and positive stock markets. This is being considered a strong signal of recovery by economists, so be prepared to deal with this economic upsurge that is bound to happen and that too very shortly.
Katherine Kline is Vice President of OFD Enterprises. She can be reached by email at kathekline@ofdenterprises.com, or by calling her at 866-445-6683 ext 5207
A recent survey by New York Times/CBS News Poll indicated the Americans who believe that the country is heading in the right direction is the highest in more than four years. Perfect news for all entrepreneurs, we all must now stop thinking negatively and start preparing our business for the good times. Let’s see what we need to do now to get our business ready:
The last thing you would like to lose now is your customer’s loyalty. A store with empty shelves, not enough personnel to attend to your customer’s needs and untimely delivery are only few of the reasons to let your customers walk out of that door and never come back. If it is not possible to start hiring full time employees, you can always recruit trainees and contract employees to keep your business going.
Are you using customer loyalty programs? Are you collecting email addresses for your newsletter? There are very good and inexpensive email solutions out there that can help you keep in contact with your customers. You can develop coupons, birthday programs, or just use it to keep in touch with your customers. Be sure and have an “opt out” button for your customers who do not like receiving email, and be sure not to over do it. Consider sending an email no more than once a month is probably a good policy, depending on your product or service.
Proactive approach
It is important to prepare a list of your regular customers and put an effort to serve them properly especially in tough times. Try to have more than one supplier so that you can have a backup. Identify your major resources; suppliers, vendors, and shippers and interact with them regularly. Develop strong professional relationships so that you have people by your side in the hour of the need.
Renegotiation
It is the best time to renegotiate your terms with your bank, vendors and suppliers. You can get better deals and some relaxation to overcome the current market turmoil. If you renegotiate terms, it will be easier for you to rebound when the economy picks up, and in the meantime can help the economy to grow. If you have a lease, now is the perfect time to renegotiate your lease. National averages for commercial property vacancies are somewhere in the 15% range, depending on the area. Take advantage of that and renegotiate.
Preparing for future
Follow a futuristic approach. Think about what you need to do to get your business running in coming times. Rethink your incentive plans, business plans, monetary benefits and cost effective measures. Innovate on the technology front and introduce smart marketing techniques that are pocket friendly but do no compromise on the objective like online newsletters.
If your business plan hasn’t been updated or is non-existent, now is the time to take a weekend and spend some time on your business. What you do in the next few months could very well determine if you are in business this time next year.
Understanding the sentiments
Your employees are your assets. Demoralized employees will not be able to give their best and will move out as soon as the economy starts reviving. You will therefore have to shell out even more money to keep your business afloat. We are not saying that you should not tell them to cut costs or rather no raises this year but show sincere commitment from your side. Float new agendas and new incentive plans to keep them motivated. Communicate at regular intervals and relieve them of any fears they might have. If you are stopping them to take leaves, you too should refrain from such activities. The idea is to lead by example.
The economy is still in a very bad shape but it has started showing signs of turnaround with growing home sales and positive stock markets. This is being considered a strong signal of recovery by economists, so be prepared to deal with this economic upsurge that is bound to happen and that too very shortly.
Katherine Kline is Vice President of OFD Enterprises. She can be reached by email at kathekline@ofdenterprises.com, or by calling her at 866-445-6683 ext 5207