You have been running a business and you’re doing well. However, the economy begins to falter, and recession looms. What can you do to maintain your market share and your income? It is during a recession that your income has to be at its most stable, so how do you achieve that while everyone around you starts to panic?

80/20 Rule

First, you must focus on your core business, and make sure that you remain focused on the products and services that are making you most money. This is where the 80/20 principle has to be strictly applied. You know the theory: 80% of your income comes from 20% of your customers, or 80% of your wastage or scrap comes from 20% of your products.

Focus on your customers first and waste second. You have to identify the 80% and 20% factors so that you can plan your cost cutting strategy going forwards.

Change Your Product Mix

However, also keep in mind that during a recession people sacrifice luxuries, and this might mean some readjusting of your business focus from luxury goods to essentials, from expensive products to their cheaper equivalents. What you should do, therefore, is to diversify into products that would be more practical at times of crisis.

Marketing

Guerrilla marketing tactics also work better in recessions, and you have to get the maximum benefit from the resources that you have. That means negotiating as hard as possible for marketing and advertising, and making best use of what marketing is carried out. You cannot just stop marketing your products or services, but make sure that the expenditure you do make brings as much return as possible, and pause the advertising campaigns that focus on building a brand.

Retain Existing Customers

Although it seems perverse during a recession, discounts to customers can often help to maintain the loyalty of your more important customers. Some of your competitors might try to take advantage of financial squeezes to wrestle your customers from you, and this is one way of preventing them. What you must not do is bad-mouth your competitors, because nothing is more certain to lose you business than that.

This is a good time to strengthen bonds with existing customers and clients and who knows: you might be able to help them through these difficult times, and then they will show their appreciation to you once the good times come back.

Reduce Labor Costs

Staff is another area where savings should be made. It’s not easy to let staff go, but sometimes essential. You could convert some full timers to part-time contracts temporarily, and retain the brightest and best workers full time. It might have an adverse effect in the short term but it will increase your chances of surviving any economic downturn.

Cut Down on Waste

Budgeting of consumables is another area that can be tackled, and even paper supplies mount up over a period of time. Calculate savings in terms of annual rather than daily. OK, you might only save 50 daily, but that is 18,000 annually, in what ever currency you work with. The same is true of time. Reduce the number of hours worked in overtime and manage your staff better so that you still get the work done.

There are many similar savings to be made that in themselves contribute only a little, but when taken together over the course of a year can equate to considerable cash saving. Do that and also focus on your core business, or that part of it that is most profitable, and your business stands a better chance of withstanding anything the average recession can throw at you.

Naz Daud – City Local Franchises UK Business Directory Home Business Franchises, Ireland Business Directory, Work from Home

No businessperson ever wants to be forced to admit defeat and have to declare bankruptcy. Yet in the current economic climate, more and more business owners are having to do just that. If your business is currently facing mounting debt problems that seem inescapable, it may seem like there’s no hope. Your profit margins keep shrinking while your bills keep piling up and creditors are calling nonstop. What can you do in this situation? One option is to try and negotiate your business debts.

There are two ways to go about this. You can either try to perform your own business debt negotiation, or you can hire a corporate debt negotiation service that will negotiate with creditors on your behalf. The first option may sound more appealing – and cheaper – but it may not be as easy as it sounds. Creditors can be pretty tough to deal with. After all, they don’t want to lose out on the money they’ve lent to your business.

If you want to try and go the do-it-yourself route, then here is how you get started. The first thing to know is that you should strive to be honest with your creditors. Trying to get a business debt reduction after you’ve continually lied to your creditors about your financials is probably not going to end well for you. You want to be up front and honest, even though it can be embarrassing to admit that you’ve bit off more than you can chew. Ultimately, most of the time they will appreciate your candor and be more willing to work with you, at least for a time.

Next, you want to try and suggest a business debt negotiation agreement that is amicable to both parties. That means that your creditors get their money, and you keep your business on its feet long enough to start being profitable again. You may be able to convince them to lower your payments or settle your debt for a smaller amount if you can present compelling evidence that you can turn your profitability around. Basically, the logic is that if they keep hounding you, your business will continue to fail and they’ll never get paid. Try and convince them that by helping you out, they increase their chances of getting paid in the long run.

That may sound simple, but it’s really recommended that you work with debt consulting services when dealing with creditors. While they do charge a fee, they are often able to get you much better deals than you could get on your own, since they are skilled in negotiation and understand the needs of both your business and your creditors. They can also help you work out a cash-flow plan that can keep your business growing even as you work your way out of debt. Contracting a business debt negotiation firm is often your best chance at getting out of debt without declaring bankruptcy or losing the business you’ve worked so hard to build.

Eric Kaplan has been involved in the business debt reduction industry for over 25 years and has helped thousands with their business debt negotiation. His first recommendation is to find a reputable, debt consulting firm with references and proven results.

If you have been in business for any length of time, you know how difficult it can be to find ways to increase your business. It seems like you have spent an eternity of thinking about how you can accomplish that and implement those ideas. But, you have to keep trying because your very business is at stake. And, in a difficult economic climate it takes all you have and more to keep going.

Here are five ways to grow your business along with a tried and true method.

Think different about your business. You probably have a myopic view of your business. If that offends you, you need to get over it. Sure, no one knows your business and customers better than you do, but there is also a danger in categorizing your business in a certain way, because you can miss out on opportunities to re-brand what you do and increase sales.

Look for ways to stretch your view of what you do and to whom you market your business. Think about the ways that your customers and clients use your product or services and think about what could be different and unique about that which could be used as a marketing strategy.

Use new technologies. The explosion of the Internet has created an incredible marketing vehicle that has allowed local businesses to branch out and capture customers from around the world. This has saved many a business and has created others that are alive and thriving right now.

Be sure that you investigate more than just a website. The applications in what is called Web 2.0 are just as important in reaching out to potential clients and finding sales where you never thought possible. Using entities such as Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Linkedin, and others are but just the beginning of where you can find customers.

Try the untried. Some business successes arise from owners who are not afraid to take a dream and try something unheard of which starts a run of incredible successes. You can realize this same success by trying things that are not ‘normal’ or accepted ways of doing business or marketing your business.

Try what works. It could be that you are avoiding the path of success that has been blazed by businesses before you which has propelled them to great financial heights. There is something to be said about following the tried and true. And, if nothing else, you can prove or disprove its relevancy for your business.

One thing that you can and should add to your business is an easy, reliable way for customers and prospects to reach you. That can be accomplished with a toll-free 800 number and an associated PBX system behind it.

As your business grows, so too, will a system that is designed to help facilitate communications whether your organization is small and just getting started, or large with many employees.

You will be in a better position to handle growth as well, so look into one of these systems today for your business. You will be glad you did.

Lee Percival is a small business owner who uses Get800Today.com toll free number service. He recommends getting a toll free phone number for business use to improve your professional image and customer service.