What Your Business Can Do to Weather a Recession

For the past few weeks, things have not been business as usual for many companies around the world. Concerns about coronavirus have caused many businesses to temporarily shut their doors. Even companies that have been able to stay in operation have seen a downturn in the number of orders they’ve received or in the number of customers who need their services. An economic downturn or recession can make things challenging for your company, but it doesn’t have to mean the end of the line. There are numerous things your business can do to weather the storm and emerge from a challenging time stronger than ever.

Get Creative

You may have to think outside the box in the midst of a downturn to find a way to continue to deliver your products or services to customers. In the wake of the coronavirus, many brick-and-mortar businesses have had to shut the doors to their physical locations. Since customers can no longer come into certain stores to make purchases, many smaller, locally-owned stores have quickly found a way to open up online stores. Some small businesses have been personally delivering orders to customers within a certain radius of their physical stores and others have started to use the post office and other shipping services to get orders to customers’ doors. Another creative solution has been to offer curbside pickup. Customers order and pay for items in advance, then go to the store. Instead of going into the building, they text or call when they arrive and an employee brings their order out to them.

Stay Connected to Customers and Clients

During a downturn, your company depends on its existing and past customers and clients more than ever before. For your ongoing success, you need to find a way to keep in contact with those customers. Social media can prove to be incredibly useful as a connection tool during a recession. It not only gives you an opportunity to share updates and offers with your followers, but it also provides you with an opportunity to learn what’s on your clients’ minds. Listen to what people are saying on your posts’ comments or in direct messages to your company. The comments, questions and feedback you receive can help you determine what you need to do to stay afloat and move forward.

Cut Back Where You Can

It’s very likely that your company will need to make some cuts to get through a recession intact. It can be helpful to cut back in areas that matter the least to you as a company, such as eliminating weekly flower deliveries to the office, first. If those preliminary cuts aren’t enough, you might need to make some tough decisions, such as deciding to lay off employees or to close one or more branches.

When deciding what to cut back on, it’s helpful to determine what is the most useful and valuable to your business. It might be that you have multiple people performing tasks that can be done by just one or two people. While it’s not easy to lay people off, it might be what your company needs to do to survive a downturn.

Promote Your Company as Much as Possible

When times are tight, your business needs all the promotion and marketing it can get. Now might be the time to increase your marketing and advertising spend, rather than to cut back on it. The more people know about your company, the more likely they are to turn to you when they need a product or service you offer.

Seek Outside Guidance

As the economy seems headed for a downturn or recession, you might feel uncertain about what moves are best to make to protect your business and preserve its future. The good news is that you don’t have to weather a recession alone. A virtual CFO can help you make plans for growth, even in times of economic uncertainty, and can help you put together a guide map that will help your company continue to thrive. New Direction Capital’s virtual CFO services can help your business make it through the next economic downturn.

To learn more about the benefits of working with one of New Direction Capital’s virtual CFOs, schedule a call with us today.