Crisis management is a hot topic these days. If you read the business section of any major newspaper or magazine, you’ll see an article about how to survive financial crisis. A Google search of “crisis management” reveals over 7 million links! The reason is clear: stories abound in our country and around the world about businesses that couldn’t make it through tough times.
Businesses are always under pressure to do more with less. Some see the signs of troubled times and cut back, while others respond by tightening belts and downsizing. Then there’s a third group that actually views difficult economic times as an opportunity rather than a problem or threat. Those businesses that view it as an opportunity can realistically expect greater results than other companies during the same period. But achieving superior results requires extraordinary skills.
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Here are ten tips for thriving during tough times: Saivian
1) Remember That It’s Still a Buyer Market
Even though your customers may be feeling tightfisted today, don’t make the mistake of thinking they won’t spend money if given half a chance. Your job is to make sure they have a good experience with your company and that they see real value in what you’re selling.
2) Keep Your Overhead Low
Make sure you’re not spending more money than you have to. Review your budget and make cuts where necessary. You may also want to consider renegotiating supplier contracts and other vendor agreements.
3) Stay Positive
Your attitude affects how others respond to you, including customers and employees. Keep things in perspective and focus on the positive even through tough times. You can do it!
4) Stay Focused On What’s Important
When times are tough, it’s easy to lose sight of your goals. Make sure you take the time to review your business plan, set new goals and find ways to achieve them. You may also want to consider selling or buying something that will help you accomplish these.
5) Enhance Your Skills
Times are tough for many companies today. It wouldn’t hurt to boost your knowledge of business practices by taking a class, attending seminars on new products and ways of doing business, reading books or catching up with experts in your field. If all else fails, volunteer your time for an organization that works with other businesses on issues related to the current situation. This could be an association of suppliers, local chamber of commerce or even a government agency looking at how older workers can find employment within their own community.
6) Take Advantage of Free Time and Space
One of the benefits of difficult times is that employees may be more willing to work overtime for less than they may have asked before. Take advantage of this willingness by working your business plan and notifying everyone involved when their free time begins. Once working hours are over, do others tasks within your office during “off” hours. If you’re unable to find help at reasonable rates, consider hiring a family member or other trusted person who will work for far less than “the going rate.” You’ll also want to take advantage of extra space in your building by having someone else use it on a part-time basis if appropriate.
7) Make the best of bad situations
Problems can’t always be avoided, but how you deal with them can make a big difference. Keep things in perspective and focus on the positive when you’re faced with a difficult situation.
8) Use Your Social Network
In this technological age, your social network includes more than what’s in your address book. Who do you know that might be able to help you in a time of need? Don’t be afraid to ask for help from whomever you think can provide it.
9) Promote Yourself with an Eye toward the Future
Even though times are tough right now, look ahead to better times that may soon come. In these circumstances, don’t just throw mud at others but promote yourself by getting out there and being seen as the best person for the job.
10) Believe in yourself, others and your work
Whether you’re selling widgets or widgets with wings, be confident in your abilities and those of your team. Don’t give up the dream!
There are two sorts of business- – those that have had difficult stretches and those that will have difficult stretches. For the most part difficult stretches identify with cash dramatizations, either an absence of business, or a customer that becomes penniless or a mix of the two. Obviously there are different issues that can make difficult stretches yet more significantly, how deal with need to do to endure them?
I have encountered a great deal of difficult stretches in business and I’ve surely assisted a ton of organizations with overcoming difficult stretches also. From these encounters, there are eleven totally non debatable things that have consistently demonstrated to be the most accommodating to overcome and really come out the opposite side in better shape.
Individuals tend to assault the most clear prompt issues with energy and decisively. That is justifiable and might appear to be legit in certain circumstances. Notwithstanding, it is likewise prudent to venture back and check out the higher perspective to see what is as yet working and what may require evolving. It’s a chance to more readily appreciate the size and extent of existing issues and further comprehend your organization’s plan of action—deciding how its qualities and shortcomings become possibly the most important factor.
For instance, assume an entrepreneur finds that two workers are reliably committing errors with stock that make specific supplies be overloaded or understocked. While an underlying response may be to terminate those representatives, it very well may be more shrewd to analyze whether the chief who employed and oversees them has appropriately prepared them.
Assuming the supervisor is at fault, that individual could be terminated, yet this probably won’t be the best methodology. Assuming the director’s associations with existing client base have a background marked by getting rehash business and considerable income, they are possible somebody you’d need to keep. Retraining may be a preferred option over end.
By completely investigating the qualities and shortcomings of the representatives, the proprietor is checking out the issue from a hierarchical point of view, lessening or disposing of the possibility that the issues will repeat while keeping away from a change that could antagonistically affect future deals.
Fix a comparable sort of focal point on examining how your item or administration squeezes into the commercial center now, what the monetary emergency has meant for your clients and providers, and the wide range of various key parts of your business. You really want to realize how well your plan of action fits the current climate and figure what different elective situations of things to come may mean for it.
Finance is frequently one of the top costs an entrepreneur has, so making sure that the cash is all around spent seems OK. This might include a careful survey of the staff—both when an issue emerges and during the typical course of business—to ensure the perfect individuals are ready and taking care of their responsibilities adequately.
Conclusion:
Times may be tough, but don’t despair! You can get through this if you focus on the positive and take advantage of the opportunities that come your way. Believe in yourself and your work, and stay positive! Things will get better says Saivian.
