By - June 13, 2022
Categories: General
When you think about growing your business, you probably don’t think about doing it during a recession. It seems counterintuitive to suggest that during a time of economic hardship you could grow your business successfully. But the truth is that this is the best time to start growing. Waiting for the perfect conditions to begin is a sure way to stay exactly where you are.
But there are a few key things you need to consider. So here are some of the recommendations I make to companies who are looking to grow their business no matter what the circumstances or state of the economy.
Keep Prices Reasonable
Your time, energy, and expertise are valuable. And your products have a base cost that you can’t ignore. So I understand that you need to charge a certain amount to cover those expenses. But overcharging is a great way to lose customers. Keeping your prices closer to what people are willing to (and happy to) pay will help you keep customers.
I’m not telling you to lower your prices. I’m asking you to consider your prices in comparison to what your clients can afford and how your business peers are handling their pricing. You may find that your prices are better than theirs. You may find that your customers are willing to pay exactly what you are charging and no more. But you should take the time to find out and not assume that everything is ok.
Eliminate High Cost-Low Return Items or Services
To stay afloat a business has to stay profitable. And offering a wider range of services appears to give you the best chance to stay profitable. But far too often services that cost a lot in time and money without returning well on that investment get left in the mix.
You need to know what each of your products or services is providing to your business. There are times when a product or service has a lower monetary return than you might like, but it could be that it provides a return in the form of loyal customers who come to you for other work. But most of the time, the low-return items cost more than they are worth. Don’t keep them.
Manage Your Budget More Carefully
Your budget is important. Knowing how much money you have and where you are going to spend it is important. Simply having a budget is not enough. A budget is a tool that was designed to be used constantly. You don’t have to use it to the extreme and monitor the pennies to the point of exhaustion. But a budget that you only use at the start and end of the month or quarter is mostly useless.
If you use your budget to monitor your books, you will have an easier time tracking what is going on in your business and be able to fix problems, sometimes before they even turn into real problems.
In Conclusion
I hope that these few tips will help you evaluate your business and lead you to grow in spite of the difficult economy. These tips are not exhaustive and I understand that you might have more questions. So I would love to speak with you about your business and how you can make your business more recession-proof.
