The current economic uncertainty may leave business owners speechless, discouraged and fearful. However, a fear-based attitude does not show the way out of the crisis but automatically leads towards recession. A shift in mindset, perspective, and strategy may help your business not only survive recessions but actually grow within the less seemingly fortunate circumstances.
Apart from the downturn in the economy, a crisis may carry various opportunities. It provides the market with a fresh start, usually with the most flexible and innovative companies participating. The time of recession may offer the possibility for growth if your business is prepared enough and willing to apply new solutions.
In the article below, you may find 5+1 strategies that are essential for your company to keep on growing during the economic crisis in 2022 and 2023. Read on to get further insights.
Know your company
Small businesses usually grow organically at the early stages of their operation, using the strong initial dynamism of the owners. It may happen that later on owners will neither be familiar with the challenges of the company’s current situation nor possess any plans for managing them.
In order for any company to carry out a successful crisis management process, it’s crucial to initiate discussions on the future operation and to set achievable goals. Having a clear vision of the future also makes it easier to apply online marketing and digital communication strategies and tools.
Understand your customers
The clear understanding of your customers helps you grow your sales performance and profit. However, don’t be fooled by the myth of trying to sell to everybody. In 2023 your company will not have any resources to be spent on trying to sell products or services to people who are not interested in or do not need them or simply are not ready yet to acquire them. You need customers who are ready for your product or service and are willing to pay its price.
This may sound cruel or even crazy, but you may want to consider cutting the bottom 10 or 20% of your customers. We all know customers who are not the best at meeting payment deadlines, are difficult to work with or require an unbalancing amount of attention compared to the revenue received from their purchases. Instead of paying your valuable attention to these people, focus on providing the rest of your customers with the highest quality possible or acquiring new prospects.
Improve operating processes to ensure the customer experience
Good customer experience leads to strong engagement. It’s crucial to pay attention to the length of customer journeys, i.e. how much effort does it require from your customer to get your service or product. In addition, the constant improvement of internal processes and the quality of your products and services is always a must when you run your own business. If you’re not sure where to start, ask for feedback from your customers.
Also, as a business owner, you have to be sure what kind of online content (i.e. blog posts, podcasts or short videos) grabs the attention of your potential customers. Whatever that is, always be prepared to adjust your content calendar according to what your prospects are interested in.
Be strategic regarding online marketing expenses
Although digital marketing may cost your business a great amount, don’t cut back on these expenses. Instead, look at them as an investment in the future of your company.
We recommend strategic planning regarding your online marketing tools. You should know exactly what works for your company and what doesn’t. This way you may plan, carry out and close successful campaigns providing your business with the expected revenue and an ongoing opportunity for future operation and growth.
Renew your marketing tools
If digital advertising is not what your business needs right now, be flexible and try something new. Let it be an offline, paper-based flyer or direct text messages, you may be surprised by their effectivity rates.
Trust your community
The most important reason behind building brand communities is cultivating a loyal customer base that may become the team of your company’s strongest supporters. Establishing and constantly caring for such community is essential in times of crisis because these customers will keep your company alive.
In addition, building a strong community that includes peer entrepreneurs may help your business grow in various ways. Providing a platform for sharing knowledge and creating opportunities for cooperation may help you reach a bigger audience and increase revenue, which is crucial during the recession. Also, sharing experiences may help you avoid certain mistakes, so you should initiate conversations with other small business owners and learn as much as possible from their stories.
Show the power of community to your customers, business partners and even to your competitors. Be the lighthouse for your industry.
We trust that the strategies mentioned above will be of your assistance in times of an economic downturn. Our team would be pleased to engage in further discussions about crisis management. Get in touch with us at hello@zsolya.com or visit our website. We are looking forward to working with you!
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