What can I do to protect my business during a recession?
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Don't Panic Mr Mainwaring." I know this phrase because my Dad made me watch all the re-runs with him when I was a kid.
It's a great line, & it helps coz I'm about to get all sassy pants and talk about today's forecast of recession for Q4 and beyond.
We've been through them before, businesses have survived, businesses have even been born from a recession, and sadly, yes, some have gone under.
So what can you do to help your business?
Burying your head in the sand might feel like the biggest urge - You can't control a recession, but you CAN control how your business behaves through it. Know your strengths & weaknesses, push one, plug the other through learning what you need to.
Don't think that it's all gone t*ts up so let's not bother (for reference, I got made 'redundant' on one month's pay during the pandemic and set up a successful 1:1 coaching business from scratch, so if a short bird from Essex can do it, anyone can.)
"Never Stop Marketing"
Never stop marketing, those who do, struggle most. Think about being a challenger brand in your space. Be innovative with what you do, and above all, work out how you're going to stand out & create raving & returning customers.
Make sure you've got your strategy off pat. This online business world is too much about tactics and not enough about strategy. When it all feels like it's going bushwhack, you can go back to your strategy to get you back on track.
Look at your products & pricing. Mid range can suffer, and it's low end and higher end offers that tend to survive (depending on market sectors & audience). Conversely, do your prices need to go up now because you're simply not charging enough & not giving yourself a sustainable income if numbers drop off?
"Get your brand position, services & marketing touch points sharper than a chef's knife"
Get your brand positioning, marketing, services and messaging sharper than a chef's knife. You need to be taking up real-estate in people's heads for when they are ready to buy, especially if your buyer's journey takes time. You need to be head and shoulders above the competition. So how're you gonna do that?
Start planning - what income do you need to hit? What's your plan B or C if you don't hit that target? What can you promote? What can be shaved off the bottom line? Have a plan, Stan.
Get specific & tangible. You need to be really clear how you help people. What transformation you can provide and how it's going to help solve your audience's problems. This is not the time to be telling people that you can 'change their life' and not tell them how or why.
This little bird hopes this helps, and if you're worried, please don't sit in silence, give us a shout as we're thinking about offering free business & personal performance audits.
Written by Victoria Griffiths