Grow in a Shrinking Economy

It seems like every night the news is reporting more sour news about the economy. No doubt that our economy is on shaky ground lately but that doesn’t have to be worrisome news for you and your company. There are some things you can do in order to protect your business during an economic slowdown.

• Cut costs cautiously. As soon as the economy starts slowing down, many business owners think they must cut costs. But this is a short-term solution. Only cut costs or decrease your prices if it won't harm your business later. You can always lower your price - but you can't always raise your price.
• Advertise, Advertise, & Advertise! During the last recession, McDonald's almost tripled their advertising campaign at a time when their competitors, namely Burger King, were cutting back. So even though this may seem counter-intuitive, a recession may be the time to increase your marketing. Hard economic time’s weeds out your competition, leaving the field wide open for you.
• Revamp your marketing tools. For those marketing techniques that are working for you, this might be the time to revamp your marketing tools. Could your sales people use more training to close the deal? Online training cuts costs and time.
• Automate wherever you can. Find ways to automate any tasks to reduce the workload on yourself and your staff. What have you been doing manually that a computer system can do for you? Take a look at all your daily tasks and see if there is a computer solution to these time-wasters.

If your company is in need of new equipment, look at leasing as an alternative to paying cash or using up the bank line of credit. Preserve your cash for marketing and other day to day needs while still getting the equipment you need to further increase your sales and efficiencies.
Above all, stay positive. There is always of opportunity out there. While some markets might slow down others will be growing.

Brad Harmon is the President at a leading financing company, First Star Capital (http://www.firststarcapital.com/ ). Brad is a frequent contributor to online publications and newsletters, and is the author of this blog on commercial financing topics.