Flow Down Economy
The global financial crisis means the economy will flow down. While things look bad there are opportunities out there, just not where you maybe looking. If you sell things that people really don’t need, then this may not be for you.
- While hair dressers might be doing it tough, sellers of hair treatments and dye are doing very well as more people do their hair at home to save money
- While weekend getaway hotels might be doing it tough, flower deliveries are up as people choose cheaper options to treat their loved ones
- While air travel is down, regional hotels are getting the business as people stay closer to home
- People are moving away from media advertising to search marketing due to the ROI and from paid toward more SEO based approaches. Social marketing is big, why do you think?
In every industry there is a flow down economy. Are you tapping into yours?
How is your GFC?
I meet a number of business owners, corporate managers and CEO’s and the first question usually how is business? In other words, we seem to be doing OK, are you guys doing OK? With all the bad news around, we are not sure if things are good or bad. On average I would sum up responses and the feeling toward the economy as such:
- So far we seem to be tracking OK, given the bad economic news
- We are not rushing out to hire and have not replaced certain people
- Revenues are in a range of 10% up to 10% down on prior year
Keep in mind these companies are generally still profitable and thus engaging my services or about to. I accept sometimes people are frugal with the truth. So if you are reading this and doing it tough I accept there are real issues out there in certain industries. If you look at the Classifind job index, that also tells part of the story.
Consider your business model?
1. Marketing & sales
- Have you reconsidered who your customer is, your customer profile?
- Have you considered whether your customer needs have changed? They may still be buying but for different reasons.
- Have you considered new customer markets on a needs basis, and how to reach these people?
- Are you still paying to market to the wrong target customers?
- Where is the current spend and are you tapping into it?
2. Customer service
- Where is your customer service dollar being spent, still on the upper end? Are you servicing customers who are no longer buying?
- Have you trained customer service people to look after a broader audience with varied needs?
- Are you servicing and supporting your new target market, if any, at all?
3. Products & services
- Do you understand current market needs and have you adjusted your products & services accordingly?
- Do you have a low cost, low risk offering?
- How are you maintaining margins? People, products or offerings?
- Innovating? Make innovation part of the culture
4. Capacity
- Is your people model right for current capacity?
- Quieter times are good to implement and test new business models and technologies. Are you leveraging technology?
- Have you reviewed and modified processes to reduce cost and increase efficiency?
5. People
- People need to understand and be informed of how the company is going and where
- They need to understand wage freezes, hiring freezes and feel a sense of urgency/ dependency in keeping the company going, after-all it is in their interest and yours and there are fewer jobs around
- If you staff act like you owe them a favour, tell them to try and go for a few interviews. As with your business approach, so their attitudes need to change.
We hear about the green shoots. There are still people making money. Make sure you make your share or at least survive intact for the next round.
