There are some things you can do to continuously shore up your business no matter the economic climate. Here are four tips:
- Be friends with your banker She or he should know how things are going for you, good, bad, or ugly. You must give up the information, especially if it’s bad. Informed bankers are helpful bankers.
- Customer care Make an attempt to personally call on each of your clients at least once in the near future, even if it’s a salesperson is calling. Don’t make it a sales call, make it a relationship call. Ask what you can do to help them, then do it.
- Batten down the hatches Scrutinize your business and see where you can change the processes to cut waste and expenses, review operational steps to eliminate or tighten up inefficient ones, and get your employees on board. This step includes eliminating excess inventory.
- The dreaded chopping block There’s no nice way to do it: payroll expenses have to be addressed. Let the non-performers go first then ask your team to help you find creative ways to allocate a pared-down budget.
Keep this list handy and revisit these issues at least quarterly.