Most small-business owners are adept at adapting. By cutting costs, improving productivity, tweaking technology and better managing marketing, they can adjust to economic conditions as they change.
The current recession, however, is testing the ability of millions of small businesses to survive, let alone prosper. Once you’ve done everything you can think of to save money and stimulate sales, it might be time to fortify your business for the future by setting a leadership mindset that will help carry you through the tough times.
So what – exactly – can you do to get through the recession? Here are some steps to help fortify your business for the future:
• Nix the negative self-talk. Don’t mope around biting your nails and dreaming up doomsday scenarios. Creativity ceases. Forward motion stops. Small-business leaders need to show by example that despite the economy, the business will pull through.
• Develop a detailed get-through-the-recession plan. Sit down with other key people involved in your business – whether that’s staff, outside advisers or maybe your spouse or accountant – and list your short- and long-term goals. Decide which are realistic and which aren’t, and what else can be cut that’s not absolutely necessary. Then communicate your plan to all employees. They need to know you are on top of the situation.
• Don’t give fear a foothold. When you allow free-floating anxiety to permeate your business you are basically giving it your stamp of approval. If others express worry about declining sales or lost customers, don’t just shrug it off or tell employees to hang in there. That indicates you share the worry. Instead, if someone shares a concern, ask them what – specifically – they are struggling with right now. Get specific. Engage the worried employee and ask what you can do to help.
• Offer straight talk and transparency. Chronic secretive behavior by those who run a business (lots of closed-door meetings, for example), harms morale even when times are good. When they aren’t, it’s even worse. When you’re making changes in response to an economic meltdown, transparency is vital. If employees believe you’re hiding something, they will assume the worst.
• Get and stay connected. Now is not a time to hide. Make yourself as visible and accessible as possible in your business – both to customers and employees. •
Daniel Kehrer can be reached at
editor@business.com.
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