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Note from Donna… I’m back from Puerto Vallarta. It was an amazing trip where I really did unplug. I purposely did not get internet in my room so that I would remain true to my decision to unplug. I know many Business Owners that truly struggle to unplug – I encourage you to step away. The feeling of refreshing is amazing, and you’d be surprised how productive you feel when you get back. Now, let’s get back to our conversation on the 5 phases of recession.
We have been talking about the 5 phases of recession for a business owner. To remind you they are:
1. Shock
2. Desperation
3. Evaluation
4. Deliberate Action
5. Surge/Burst
We’ve talked about the first 3 and if you missed them you can go to my website www.sooterconsulting.com and click the blog tab.
Now that you spent some time evaluating what has been working and what has not been working, getting an understanding of who your best customers are and what they want from you, it’s time to do something. I’m not talking about doing something for the sake of doing something – I mean deliberate action.
I’ve been exploring what my top clients want from me. They want to know where they are right now, and they want to forecast where they will be at the end of this year. They want to know cost cutting strategies that will not kill the company. They want someone to listen to them and find the holes in their plans. Most of all, they want to know they can weather the storm that’s brewing.
As I talk to clients, I’m even challenging them to think how they can position themselves for the surge/burst phase that happens as we come out of recession. This is a great time for planning and developing new products and services.
I’ve learned never to give business advice unless I’m willing to do it myself. My deliberate action will be sinking deeper into our Profit First Product. Helping businesses understand how to plan cash flow and ensure they have what they need when they need it is the value we want to bring.
Another deliberate action is an expense analysis. I’m not only looking at the cost of a product or service, but the overall value it brings to the business. My Operations Manager asked me to consider Mango Practice Management. It’s a tool that will combine about 6 of our software/products together. The overall cost analysis showed that it would be about the same cost; however, when I considered how efficient the team will be having everything in the same place – that’s when I saw the value of making the change. What I almost missed in the cost analysis is the wages I will save. The time it takes them to log into different programs, find what they are looking for is a savings. Think about it! The time they are saving could allow them to serve another client. Now I’m not just saving money, but I’ve found a way to make money.
Last time, I talked about shrink flation and how I’m considering doing some office hours instead of scheduled one to one meetings. I’m still working that into reality. While I was thinking about it I came up with another idea to have office hours just for recession strategies. I’m thinking of making myself available for 1 hour a week for anyone to come in and ask questions about their ideas on weathering the storm.
I’d love to know your intentional ideas on how you will weather the storm. What is running through your brains on how to survive… strike that…how to thrive during the recession. Leave me some remarks, send me an email or book a time to talk. Together we will make it through.