Surviving an Economic Recession – A Business Improvement Perspective
A global recession triggered by various causes is certainly bad news for all businesses in an increasingly global economy. From increasing oil prices, to chokes in credit lines for companies to do business, all these would spell trouble for world demand, directly impacting the bottom-line of companies. The usual tendencies for companies in their quest for business survival during these turbulent times would have been to get into the acts of headcount reviews, budget freezes and reduction, and other drastic cost-cutting measures. However, overreacting to this situation or merely following the “order of practice of the industry” may handicap a company’s future growth when demand recovers again. What companies should do is to take this opportunity of a downturn to re-invent themselves and consider how best to position themselves for global recovery when it happens.
There is usually a silver lining in all recessions, and that it is the time far-sighted companies are triggered to re-invent themselves in terms of practices, processes and human resources through business improvement practices.
Companies could use a myriad of business improvement methodologies such as Lean, Six Sigma or business process re-engineering to reap current and future benefits during a downturn. Lean, largely associated with the elimination of the 7 business wastes, could be used to review current processes and practices for immediate cost reductions without reducing valuable headcount. Examples of Lean techniques worth considering could range from the simple 5S (a methodology to ensure that what’s needed is known to be available, and what’s unnecessary is made known for alternative uses) to value stream mapping which could be used for identifying the 7 business wastes for elimination and process improvement. Six Sigma, a well-known methodology typically used for achieving zero defects, could be used to discover root causes of high business expenditures so as to facilitate their reduction and control. Even the good old process re-engineering practices could be used to review and analyze current business processes for streamlining and improvement.
Also worth noting is that business improvement activities involve teams and encourages teamwork. Such activities would most certainly improve employee morale during the gloom of a global downturn, while at the same time increase their intellectual capacity and create a learning organization. Don’t forget that it is also the people that make the company, and improving their morale in turbulent times will go a long way in firming the foundations for good times that will come again.
The bottom line of this perspective on how companies can survive an economic recession through business improvements is that business improvement methodologies provide a valid alternative to the “layman version” of cost-cutting measures. These methodologies provide a more prudent approach for reviewing the business during a downturn for long-term survival. They also enable the invigoration of companies for the next wave of growth. The possibilities are endless. It is up to companies to be innovative for their survival during a recession and beyond.
By: Adrian Tan
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Vested Business Brokers
Hiring the expertise of a vested business broker is a good strategy, especially when doing business. If you are thinking of buying or selling your business, the foremost thought on your mind is, of course, how you will be able to optimize your sale or purchase. Getting the services of a reliable and knowledgeable vested business broker can make a huge difference.
Vested business brokers act as the middlemen between buyers and sellers. They may have ready resources, such as a long list of clientele who are ready to make purchases or people who are itching to sell businesses or properties. Vested business brokers may also be in contact with a wider network that, in turn, can put you in touch with more possible buyers and sellers.
Aside from these perks, the services of vested business brokers usually include some form of promotion, like advertisements and publicity, which can speed up the sale or purchase of your item.
Business deals, such as the buying and selling of a business or property, usually includes a fair amount of paper work and can take up a lot of your time. If you do not want to be bothered by the technical details, then you can hire a professional to address your needs. Vested business brokers can take care of everything from setting up meetings, making credit inquiries and even doing your paperwork. With these people at the helm, all you need to worry about is getting a fair deal.
The buying and selling process can be complicated. Many of the business dealings involving buying and selling can be taxing. That is why you need someone reliable who will take care of your assets and your money. You want someone who is smart enough to know a good deal when he stumbles upon one and turns away from a bad deal as soon as the warning signs flash.
By: Steve Valentino
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Wholesale Business – How to Start a Potential Wholesale Business
When starting a wholesale business you should always start small, it is advisable to check first whether you are good in selling that specific good or not. However, later you will have to expand your product range. As your business does well you may want to employ salesmen to visit your retailers. Making your deliveries to the retailer cost free is a good way of making your business popular.
In this business you need a very strong communication skill and being a little more persuasive always helps, and you need this to make the manufacturers to sell their goods to you at lowest price. This is important because you would have to sell the good at the market price and you have to make sure that it covers the marginal cost of the good and thus making a profit. This business requires ones marketing ability to persuade the customers to buy from them. You should always keep track of potential customers and make them offers so they are always interested in buying from you.
When starting this business you should be in a location near other distributors, this is strongly advisable as retailers would not make unnecessary travel just for you. Your location should provide good parking facilities and should be central to all your customers, because a retailer usually comes with loading vans and centralizing helps you reach your customer. The hours of business are adequate, from 8:30am to 5:30pm. You can also open on Saturday’s half-day if you are having trouble keeping up. As a wholesaler you would be dealing with many goods so it is always a good idea to specialize in one field in order to compete with other businesses.
Wholesaling business is a good business if you are willing to start one. You should start small and keep working on your business skills. Persuasion always is a plus for this business. You should always start with a good location depending on your customer and retailer needs. The business is getting tougher each day as now shopping marts are opening and they are buying their goods directly from the suppliers and selling them to the customers even still there is a good demand for the wholesalers.
By: Jennifer Conelly
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Business Development Tips For Massage Therapy Business
Massage therapy is one field where if you know your basics right, eventually there is just no need to market. The interested will in fact look for you. The field has a massive career opportunity waiting for you. Your massages can treat illness and as they say, only the rich can afford the luxury of being treated, so just no need to worry about making money.
So the first tip for business development of the message therapy business is to work on your offering. If your massages are capable of treating illness like joint pains, act as a stress buster, and help achieve the state of relaxation, then the business prospects are bright. On the other hand, if you are counting on your knowledge in the field, then ensure that you have the right subordinates with the requisite skill set.
The second crucial advice to grow your existing volume is to ensure that your existing clientele make more frequent visits than otherwise. This is one stream where slight manipulations can get you double the business from the exiting client base. Introduce some monthly packages, offer discount schemes on frequent visits, plan special massage therapy charts for specific requirements like pains, render the comfort edge and most importantly SMILE! Most of the time, you tend to ignore the importance of a smile. Your cheerful attitude can help you strengthen the client base more than your services. A simple smile can help you charge double the amount and still make it look meager. The trick is to befriend your customers who expect personal attention, especially in the small business segment. Entertain them and have all the necessary equipment. The right music, the right fragrance and privacy are a must.
Generating referrals is the third most-important aspect. Advocate consultancy, if required, free of cost. Encourage people to drop in with friends who have any specific problem, which you can solve with your massaging capabilities. This free advice can pay beneficially in the form of new customers. Give more time to curious visitors and tell them in detail about the associated benefits. Do not give discounts to new entrants, since this could create a commotion among the existing clientele.
Another tip is to pass on add-on services rather than advocating discounts. If you have to oblige an old customer, do so by adding more treatments in the existing package rather than allowing them to pay less. This is an addictive habit. If they can talk you into a discount once, the tendency would be to get as many more as possible. So discourage any monetary bargains.
Introducing life memberships, home massages, free pick-ups and other related add-ons are just a few more ways to increase the client base and hold on to what you have. However, the key is to impart the best massages and ensure a soothing effect to every one of your customers.
By: Alexander Gordon
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Profit Patterns for Business Success
Customer Patterns
Customers are the ultimate choosers of value. Every day they vote with their time, with their word of mouth, with their money and with their allegiance, for the business designs that best serve their evolving priorities. Customers determine profits.
Across a variety of industries, the behaviour of the customer base is changing in many ways. These changes continue to transform the strategic landscape in nearly every business.
Customers hold more of the power in the supplier-customer equation and they possess the information as to what will be valuable tomorrow.
Product To Customer Knowledge
In the product to customer knowledge pattern, profit-oriented suppliers convert a flow of product transactions into profound and systematized knowledge of customers’ preferences, price sensitivity and buying behaviour.
This knowledge can produce new profit streams in many different ways; category management, precision merchandising, or dramatic increases in the innovation success rate.
Listen to what your transactions are telling you about the customer. Hear and capture the message. Apply it to, create new offerings, develop new systems and improve the customer’s economics and your own.
Develop An Action Plan
A frequent obstacle to acting on profit patterns is reversion to the tried and tested approach, the strong urge to stick with the company’s traditional strategic playbook. Mindful of their company’s past successes, failures and limitations, managers often advocate sticking to the existing set of options that have worked for the company in the past.
They are reluctant to formulate new types of actions that may be necessary to exploit the high value opportunities emerging in their industry. Rather, they prefer choosing from the known quantities, the narrow set of moves defined by past experience and traditional industry experts.
The reality is that expanding your repertoire is never a bad move. In every case, the player with the most options and moves is in the best position to adapt quickly to new economic realities and take advantage of the profit patterns altering the strategic landscape.
By exploiting non-traditional options and approaches, the profit pattern thinking organization can create extraordinary value and capture strategic control in its industry.
The repertoire is limited only by one’s own strategic imagination and the imagination of other strong players on your team.
By: James V Chapman
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