Anyone with a business of their own knows that slowdowns are inevitable. It doesn’t matter how hard you work, there will be times when sales decline, customers disappear, and overall business activity drops off. This can be incredibly damaging to your company, but, if you keep yourself motivated and react the right way, there’s nothing saying you can’t come out the other side even stronger. With that in mind, here are eight things you can do when business is slow.
1. Improve Your Marketing Strategy
When money is tight, a business’ marketing budget is often the first thing to be cut. However, it’s during these times that marketing is even more crucial. After all, without it, customers would never know who you are. Because of this, you should focus some of your money and attention on improving your marketing strategy. Make sure you consider free and cheaper tactics, like social media advertising, as well as those more costly. Also, ensure you measure the results.
2. Attend Local Networking Events
Although networking may not be your favorite activity, especially when you’re worried about the fate of your company, it’s important that you don’t shut yourself away from the world. Instead, take the extra free time you have to attend networking events in your local area. This is the perfect opportunity to find sales opportunities and meet like-minded business people to team up with. You could even find yourself a mentor to offer advice on what to do next.
3. Focus On Personal Development
As the leader of your business, it’s often your knowledge and skills that determine its fate. Keeping that in mind, you should consider ways to grow and develop them. You can do this by reading business blogs and magazines, listening to podcasts, and watching videos online. You could also take a class or course or attend a seminar. There are many subjects that could benefit your company, so consider your options carefully before you choose one.
4. Offer Your Services Free
Even during slow periods, it’s important to keep yourself busy and your creative juices flowing. To do this, you could get involved with a local charity or nonprofit and volunteer your services for free. This might mean offering some pro bono work or volunteering to teach a course or workshop of some kind. In addition to the good you do, this work will also get your name out there, which could help you to gain some new clients or customers.
5. Connect With Past Customers
Convincing past customers and clients into a new sale is much easier and cheaper than doing so with brand new ones. Because of this, you should check in with those who have previously shopped with you and try to convince them to do so again. There are lots of ways to reconnect with past customers, from a handwritten note to a personalized email. For a little added incentive, you could send a voucher or discount code with whatever method you choose.
6. Start A New Business
Owning a company that is struggling is far from fun. For this reason, you may want to consider starting a new one. Now, I know what you’re thinking – If I sell my business, does that make me a failure? Thankfully, this is far from the case. We all have limits on how much we’re willing to do to make something work, which is why this type of business sale is so common. Instead of wasting time trying and failing, giving someone else a shot and move on to something new.
7. Partner With Another Company
Business may be slow for you right now, but that’s not to say that it isn’t in full swing for a similar company in your local area. With the connections you have built up networking, you should reach out to other companies and business people and see if anyone wants to team up on something. This could be a project, new product or service, or something else entirely. Like with volunteering, this can help to get your name out there and bring in new customers.
8. Ask Someone For Advice
Entrepreneurs are typically incredibly driven and independent individuals. It’s for this reason that so many of us find it so difficult to ask for help when we need it. However, when the fate of your company is at stake, there’s absolutely no reason why you should be embarrassed to do so. Instead of struggling alone, you should reach out to other entrepreneurs or a mentor to see if they have any advice. One of them might just have the idea that saves your business.
Slow periods are normal in business, but, that doesn’t mean they’re not dangerous. Hopefully, with these tips, you can get through your rough patches and come out the other side even stronger.
