Posted by on Oct 25, 2008 in Marketing, Strategy | 5 comments

Joanne Black wrote a good post, with tips on what small business owners can do in a lagging economy.  While very little of her content was new, I enjoyed the post because of her tone, and passion as she wrote.   Her posts described Eight “Killer Steps” to Attracting New Business in a Lagging Economy.  I picked three of my favorites.  If you want the rest of the list you will need to read her orignal post.

1. Broaden Your Perspective.  -  What business are you in? Redefine and reinvent yourself. Determine how you can create a leap in demand for your products and services. Build new alliances and consider alternate distribution channels.

This does not mean losing focus on your niche, but simply looking for new ways to serve existing customers

2. Be Nimble and Innovative.  -  You’ll never have all the facts. Go ahead; make quick decisions. Be fearless and make those tough choices. Create new uses for your products.

I firmly believe the worst decision you can make is not to make one. Even when you move in the wrong direction, you learn something as you retrace your steps.

7. Don’t Cut Prices. Increase Value.  There’s a lot of chatter about cutting prices in a lagging economy. Many small business owners think by cutting prices, you’re cutting your profits even further. Instead, consider how to “get in and get started.” Divide your offering into smaller chunks, get results and create traction. Or, give more value.

More on This Topic

  • http://www.proactiveadminservices.com Rachel Reeves

    Thank you Lorraine for highlighting this post for us. You are right – this is an extremely good write up by Joanne Black. Her full write up is well worth the read!

    In addition to Joanne Black’s tips there is a good post at the VAnetworking.com/blog/ titled ‘Quick Tip – Looking for a legitimate business expense?’ It explains that one often overlooked benefit of hiring a Virtual Assistant is the fact that you don’t only get a ton of time freed up in your days, but you also get to claim the expense on your taxes!

  • http://www.roundpeg.biz Lorraine

    Good point Rachel. As a small business owner it is sometimes tough to make the leap to investing in support. But every time I have done so, it has been well worth it.

  • http://www.tellychakkar.com Aditya Gholap

    Cut illegitimate expenses apart from increasing value. Increased value comes from more focus. Focus comes from increased insight and productivity and streamlining of processes. We streamlined our processes using Deskaway – fired some ‘managers’ who were not needed and being a drain on our resources. So we’ve spent $250 on DeskAway for the year and the technology is saving us the salary of 2 employees. Invest in technology. And i would say, this is the strategy to stick to for ‘good times’ as well.

  • http://www.forceindiaf1.com Tim Hensen

    I second Aditya’s recommendation to invest in technology and DeskAway in particular.

  • http://www.tvserialsandshows.com/ Itereon Jay

    Running a small business is not an easy task because there are big fish in market to take that. In this situation, you should keep some very strong survival strategies in your mind.