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Lynn Spry. 19 Ways to Survive in a Tough Economy
19 WAYS TO SURVIVE. Small-Business Strategies for a Tough Economy
Introduction
1. Commit to Making Your Business a Success
1. You Can’t Learn to Swim in a Classroom
2. It’s Okay to Fail Sometimes
3. Risks Lead to Rewards
4. Mistakes Mean You Are Learning
5. Commit to Success
6. Control Your Business
7. Communicate Your Goals Clearly
8. Lead by Example
2. Comply With All Government Rules and Regulations
1. Protecting Your Personal Assets
2. Set up Your Business Credit
3. Taxes
3.1 Get every tax deduction possible
3.2 The high cost of not paying your taxes
3.2a US tax consequences
3.2b Resolving tax issues in the USA
3.2c Canadian tax consequences
3.2d Relief for penalties and interest on taxes in Canada
3.3 Prevent tax problems in the future
4. Follow Regulations and Rules
5. Post All Required Notices
6. Forms, Documentation, and Disclaimers
7. Finding Reliable Information
3. Eliminate the Financial Obstacles
1. What Is Your Real Monthly Revenue?
2. Required Expenses versus Desired Expenses
3. Negotiate and Reduce Your Bills
4. Reduce Unnecessary Employee Expenses
4.1 Reduce perks
4.2 Reduce benefits
4.3 Control costs of after-hour meals
4.4 Find a solution for excessive overtime
4.5 Deal with weak employees
4.6 Review employee expenses
5. Eliminate Hidden Marketing and Advertising Costs
6. Check Your Own Charges
7. Do Away with Superfluous Expenses
8. Keep Costs Critical to Expansion
9. Review, Repeat, and Reduce
4. Understand the Financial Health of Your Organization
1. The Balance Sheet
Sample 1: Balance Sheet
2. The Profit and Loss Statement
Sample 2: Profit and Loss Statement
3. Cash Flow Statement
Sample 3: Cash Flow Statement
4. Other Types of Reports to Help You Stay on Top of Your Business
4.1 Daily and weekly margin report
4.2 Daily and weekly gross revenue report
4.3 Detailed inventory report
4.4 Customer surveys
5. Understanding Your Industry To Become a Leader in Your Field
1. Special Note for Franchise Owners
2. Learn Your Industry for Free
2.1 Join online chats and newsgroups
2.2 Regularly check competitor advertising
2.3 Visit your competitors
2.4Review your vendor’s literature
2.5 Study large competitor websites
2.6 Sign up for industry newsletters and magazines
2.7 Take free training courses
3. Investing in Your Education
3.1 Complete certifications
3.2 Online courses
3.3 Group membership
3.4 Read the latest industry-related books
4. Spread the Knowledge
6. Ask for Support and Assistance
1. Ask for Help
2. Get Support from Your Spouse
3. Take Your Children to Work
4. Get Advice from the Experts
4.1 SCORE — Counselors to America’s Small Business
4.2 US Small Business Administration (SBA)
4.3 Resources for Canadian businesses
5. Develop Relationships with Other Business Owners
6. Get Advice from Your Franchise Company
7. Take Stock of Your Supplies
1. Reducing Inventory Costs
2. Stock Products, Not Catalogs
3. Get Rid of Old Products
4. Reducing Assembled Product Costs
5. Reducing Service Costs
6. Revenue Does Not Equal Profit
7. Your Products and Services Cost
8. Focus On Your Target Market
1. Products That Appeal to Everyone
2. Identify Your Target Market
3. Discover Who Your Customers Really Are
3.1 Learn about your customers
3.2 Discover your customer demographics
Table 1: Customer-Tracking Grid Including Age and Zip/Postal Code
Table 2: Customer-Tracking Grid Including Gender
3.3 Find your most profitable customers
Table 3: Calculating How Much Each Customer Spends
4. How Effective Is Your Advertising?
4.1 Check your advertising demographics
4.2 Tracking advertising effectiveness
Table 4: Tracking Your Advertisements’ Effectiveness
4.3 Find the real cost of all your advertising
Table 5: Cost and Margin of Advertising Per Customer
4.4 Cancel your ineffective advertising
4.5 Increase your best advertising
4.6 Track brand loyalty
4.7 Referrals = free advertising
9. Keep Your Customers and Clients Happy
1. How Did You Treat Your First Customer?
2. Always Deliver on Your Promises
3. Become the Solution Provider of Choice
3.1 When customers want more
3.2 When customers complain
3.3 When customers pay late
3.4 When customers stop paying
4. What Type of Customers Do You Want?
4.1 Sometimes you have to fire your customers
10. Motivate Your Employees
1. The Problems Associated with Overstaffing and Understaffing
1.1 Personnel problems
1.2 Productivity issues
1.3 Errors
2. Determine If Your Company Is Overstaffed Or Understaffed
3. Do You Have the Right Team?
4. Firing Employees Can Improve Morale
5. Finding and Hiring New Team Members
5.1 Before the interview
5.2 Preparing the candidate for the interview
5.3 Interview tips
5.4 Never hire the “best” candidate
6. Branding Your Team
7. Build a Championship Team
11. Manage Your Problem Employees
1. When Good Employees Turn Bad
2. Confronting Conflict
2.1 Employee complaint 1: I am irreplaceable!
2.2 Employee complaint 2: I am underpaid!
2.3 Employee complaint 3: I know better!
2.4 Employee complaint 4: I bring in the customers!
3. Take Proactive Steps to Prevent Sabotage
3.1 Conduct regular performance reviews
3.2 Provide constructive feedback
3.2a Be honest
3.2b Document strengths as well as weaknesses
3.2c Use examples and consequences
3.2d Don’t allow any surprises
3.2e Solicit employee comments
4. Setting Level Employee Expectations
12. Document Your Critical Processes to Ensure Consistent, Quality Customer Service
1. The Benefits of Documents and Processes
2. Picking the Right Processes to Document
3. Designing Forms That Save Time
4. Measure What Matters
5. Regular Reviews
13. Train Your Employees to Increase Sales and Improve Profitability
1. Sales and Satisfied Customers
1.1 Sales myth 1: Our products are too expensive
1.2 Sales myth 2: I’m not in the sales department
1.3 Sales myth 3: That customer can’t afford it
1.4 Sales myth 4: That customer doesn’t need it
1.5 Sales myth 5: We haven’t had a serious buyer all day
1.6 Sales myth 6: Customers just don’t like salespeople
1.7 Sales myth 7: Sales is just a numbers game
2. Look for Sales Opportunities
3. The Right Products to Up-Sell
Sample 4: Up-Sell Possibilities
3.1 The right time to up-sell
4. Everything Should Be for Sale!
5. Taking Sales to the Next Level
14. Turn Your Store Into a Showplace So You Can Attract New Customer Dollars
1. Transforming Your Store
2. Creating the New Layout of Your Store
3. Remember the Best Changes Are Free
4. Take Advantage of Professional Designers
5. Positioning Products in Your Store
5.1 Positioning popular products
5.2 Positioning popular products in your service business
5.3 Product location increases impulse purchases
6. Boost Sales by Offering New Ancillary Products
7. Keep Your Customers Comfortable
7.1 Music
7.2 Airflow and smells
7.3 Temperature
8. Tots + Toys = Transactions!
9. Reduce Shrinkage and Lost Dollars
10. Keep Your Place of Business Organized and Clean
11. When to Implement Your New Design
15. Adapt to Changing Market Conditions
1. Expand Your Service Offerings
1.1 At-home service
1.2 Home delivery and shipping
1.3 Online service
1.4 Product consulting
1.5 Free product maintenance
2. Expand by Selling to Local Businesses
2.1 Identify the company demographic you are targeting
2.2 Choose a repeatable offering
2.3 Include an impulse purchase
2.4 Leave a flyer or advertisement with the potential business customer
3. Finding Profitable Partnerships
4. Taking Advantage of Free Ideas to Continue to Grow
5. Markets and Customers Change — So Should You!
16. Compete Effectively With Big Businesses
1. Don’t Compete on Their Terms
2. Stand out in a Crowd
3. Personalize Your Presentation
4. Find Your Unique and Uncommon Products
5. Sell Your Company’s Industry Knowledge
6. Be Prepared for Direct Competition
7. Be Positive If You Want to Win Customers
17. Take Advantage of Barter Opportunities
1. What Is Barter?
2. Why Barter?
2.1 Seller benefits of barter
2.1a Increased sales
2.1b Expanded customer base
2.1c Reduced costs on every sale
2.1d Easier resolution of disputes
2.2 Buyer benefits of barter
2.2a Increased purchasing power
2.2b More leverage
2.2c Greater speed and flexibility
3. Taxes and Barter
4. Finding Businesses That Will Barter
4.1 Bartering within a barter group
5. Paying Your Expenses through Barter
5.1 Paying your bills through barter
5.2 Paying yourself through barter
5.3 Paying your employees through barter
6. You Can Barter for Anything
18. Protect Your Business from Theft and Fraud
1. The Risks of Accepting Checks
2. Avoiding Credit Card Fraud
3. Preventing Shrinkage and Outright Theft
3.1 Reduce the payoff
3.2 Lock up valuables
3.3 Install a security system
3.4 Get steel roll-down doors
3.5 Work with your landlord and neighbors
3.6 Watch your customers
4. What to Do If Your Employees Are Stealing
5. How to Avoid Business Scams
19. Ensure That the Functions Critical to Your Business Are Stable, Backed Up, and Insured
1. Easy, Low-Cost Data Backup
1.1 Media backups
1.2 Computer hard drive arrays
1.3 Off-site backups
2.The Risks Associated with Saving Information Longer Than Necessary
3. Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS)
4. Insure Your Business Assets
5. Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks
6. Get Rid of Piles of Paper
7. Make Sure You Have a Backup Plan for Your Job
8. Test Your Backup Systems
20. Now That You Know the “Ways,” Continue to Search for New Opportunities
1. Expand Beyond Your Boundaries
2. Acquire Another Company
3. Franchise Your Processes
4. Increase Your Holdings through Commercial Real Estate
5. Take Advantage of New Opportunities
Dedication
About the Authors
Notice to Readers
Self-Counsel Press thanks you for purchasing this ebook
Contents
