Tips for Keeping Your Business Thriving during Economic Recession

Recession Definition: 

Recession describes the reduction of a country's gross domestic product (GDP) for at least two quarters. The usual dictionary definition is "a period of reduced economic activity", a business cycle contraction.

The United States-based National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)defines economic recession as: "a significant decline in [the] economic activity spread across the country, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP growth, real personal income, employment (non-farm payrolls), industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales."

So:

Now is not the time to panic and fall behind in customer satisfaction. Be sure to keep close contact with all of your clients-and give some extra attention to your biggest ones. It is important to show your clients that you will still be valuable to them, since cutting costs is on everyone's minds these days.

Cut Costs

Take the time to review your budget and see if there is any excessive spending going on. Are there any adjustments you can make to lower costs? If you use any suppliers, contact them to inquire about lower prices, or if you receive any services from other businesses you can contact them to see about lowering costs. This sort of thing is expected in a recession, so do not be afraid to cut costs any way you can.

Clean Up

Now is a great time to take care of any clutter in your business-both financial and physical. Organize your documents, take care of any delayed filings, and clean up the office. You may even find some old leads you forgot about that you could try to contact. Once this is done, it will be easier for you to step back and use some perspective to get a better idea of where you are and where you're going.

Use the Internet

The Internet is a tool, and quite a powerful one. During a recession, it can be an even better resource because there are plenty of marketing opportunities online that are free. If you are not as computer savvy as some or simply don't have the time, you could consider hiring an Internet marketing company to help.

Watch Payments

Pay particular attention to credit transactions and checks in times like these. We would all like to trust all of our clients to make payments on time, but the fact is they may not even know how low their own bank account balances are. To avoid losing money and time, be sure to keep good track of your clients and your cash to avoid the entire scenario.

Promote Your Best Areas

Do not even bother marketing or promoting your lowest selling area more than necessary. During a recession, vigorously promote your best-selling and most rewarding services. Then, once you have a client signed up, you can offer any extra services that you have if they're interested.