Since the recession began, you’ve probably made some noticeable business management improvements. You had to. If you’re still struggling, see the following seven lessons learned.
- Improve your sales & marketing plan. Brainstorm new marketing ideas. Involve your staff and try more of those ideas than ever. Is there a new product, service, or geographic territory you could easily pursue? Think more about your sales process and close rates. Do more to keep existing customers and ask for referrals. Cross-sell other products and services that would be appropriate for them.
- Adopt a better human resources (HR) approach – Everything is more critical: who you hire, how you train them, your communication, incentives, coaching, etc. Staff productivity may be a sore spot. Better HR practices can serve you well, lowering turnover and raising morale.
- Get smarter about financing – Many businesses were broken or crippled without their financial lifeline. Now, there’s a new respect for banking relationships and keeping your credit score in line. Become aware of other lending options, such as factoring or crowdfunding. Use these better business management practices and resulting cash flow to decrease your lending needs.
- Change the culture – Spend more time communicating and explaining “the way it is” to your staff. Increase their awareness of your company, values, and expectations. This should change old habits and spur more involvement. Reinforce customer service standards.
- Measure success more carefully – If your bookkeeping isn’t accurate or timely, work toward that as soon as possible. Track other success metrics besides the bottom-line profits. Start measuring customer satisfaction and profitability, employee turnover, product and service profitability, accounts receivable, and other key performance metrics.
- Boost efficiency – Improving culture and performance measurement tend to improve processes – and vice versa. Cut down on mistakes. Reevaluate your office and warehouse space – can you consolidate and/or rent some of it out? Reevaluate suppliers and inventory as well. Improve your time management. Figure out which marketing efforts have the biggest ROI and adjust your time and budget accordingly. Your staff should help retain and gain more customers. Build some momentum!
- Narrow your focus. Realizing you can’t do it all (well) and picking your battles is a huge insight. As your business management approach improves, you should be able to spotlight problem areas, reduce or eliminate them, and free up precious time.
Successful businesses have carefully navigated through this recession. They took action and improved their entire management system. So why wait for a recession? Better business management creates the capacity to control your own destiny and grow in any economy.
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Edward Livesay
Co-Founder & Strategist at Mosaic Strategic partners
Edward Livesay is a business and financial strategist with over 16 years of consultative experience. His work has generated millions of dollars in growth and savings for business and government clients.
