Growing your business is challenging even when the market is performing admirably. When things start going south, however, things become even more difficult. With purchasing power going down and the general uncertainty of the market, expansion can be quite complicated and any additional investment may sound risky. Still, there are some businesses that make it even under these circumstances and even note down a remarkable growth. It all depends on your general strategy and adjust ability. In order to help you out, here are the top seven ways to help your business grow even during a crisis.
Read: Choose to Right Marketing Strategy for Business Growth
1. Go for a scalable business model
The reason why a scalable business model is so important is due to the fact that it provides you with the necessary flexibility. For instance, a tool that has different versions can allow you to switch between the cheaper and the premium version without having to replace the entire tool. Paying your staff based on performance means that you won’t have to lay anyone off. The more work that they get done, the more they get paid. Once the workload decreases so does the payroll. Marketing methods such as PPC also fit within this category.
2. Diversify your offer
Having just one type of product-service on the market is quite risky. On paper, it sounds like a great idea, seeing as how you can funnel all your resources into the single most profitable product that you have in offer. However, as global trends change, so does the interest of your audience. Keeping all your hopes on one product is like keeping all your eggs in one basket. It is a risky type of behavior that belongs more to a gambler’s table than in the business world.
3. Discount is not always the solution
In moments of crisis, a lot of businesses start fearing the scenario in which they are left with a ton of unsold products on their hands. Offering these items on a sale and giving a sizable discount may sound like the optimal solution but this is not always your best option. For luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, there is no such thing as a discount. All the items that don’t get sold at a regular price (not that there are a lot of these items) get destroyed so that they don’t debase the value of a brand as a whole.
4. Provide yourself with necessary legal protection
When trying to minimize your expenses, you are in danger of cutting out a pivotal service for your business. For instance, you could stop paying for insurance in order to cut down on your overhead but what happens when you need that insurance money? The same thing goes when it comes to legal services. According to expert providers of commercial lawyer Sydney services, lawyers do far more than just representing you in the court of law. They also recommend legal counsel, certified tax advisers and appraiser evaluators. In other words, they are pivotal for anything law-related that your company is invested in.
5. Limit your expenses
Knowing how to lower your expenses without compromising the quality of your work is no short of an art form. Why? Well, because it is easy to cut down on staff bonuses but what happens when your star employees start leaving? It is also quite easy to lower the quality of your products by reducing the testing time or the quantity of materials that go into their manufacturing process. So, what happens when the quality of the product plummets significantly? In other words, you need to weigh the pros and cons before eliminating anything from the cost list.
6. Secure your income
Regardless of how much cash you have on your bank account, your business won’t have the option to make due without ordinary income. Ensure there is an equivalent and controlled degree of money inflows and outpourings. It is useful to attempt new installment choices and offer early installment cashback. Remember that the endurance of your business is the most significant thing. That would be conceivable just in the event that you figure out how to ensure your money position in this market.
7. Focus on customer retention
Speaking of nurturing your already existent advantages, there is an estimate that about 8% of your regular customers make up for about 40% of all your profit. There is also an equation according to which it costs you five times less to keep a customer than to convert a new one. In other words, when it comes to shear cost-efficiency and the efficiency of your customer engagement, your existing buyers should take priority. The exception, of course, are those fields in which the items sold to go under the one-time-purchase category (chess sets, exercise equipment, etc.).
8. Vent off some steam
Running a business is always a demanding task, especially in moments of crisis. This is why you need to be focused and… well, as relaxed as possible. The thing is that when you’re feeling overworked, you might start making mistakes. This is something you can’t afford in situations where every second count. You also need to take into consideration the fact if you distance yourself too much from people you love and things you enjoy doing, you might start losing perspective (losing motivation). At one point, you might ask yourself – why am I doing all of this? Doubting yourself and whether all this effort is actually worth it is the last thing you need.
In conclusion
Like we have already mentioned, everything about developing a strategy is situational. For instance, we have mentioned the importance of focusing on regular customers and then mentioned the exception of the one-time-purchase category. Also, not every business needs the same amount of legal protection, etc. In other words, you need to research your options and try to figure out which recipe for success works in your particular scenario. For any business to grow, especially in these moments of crisis, you cannot allow looking at one-size-fits-all scenarios. Remember that troublesome occasions don’t keep going forever, and it won’t be long before all that becomes all-good.
