SCORE CEO Ken Yancey says, "Small businesses feel the credit crunch first. We have seen difficulty accessing capital and collecting payments from customers." Yancey adds, "Don't wait. Now is the time to meet with a SCORE mentor to make plans to tighten credit policies, cut expenses and look at holding cash in your accounts. Experienced SCORE mentors are here to help you plan actions to survive the recession and grow when the economy turns around."
SCORE offers tips for small business owners on Five Recession Pitfalls to Avoid:
1. Cutting expenses too slowly. Don't cut expenses a little bit at a time. Now is the time to look at expenses and decide whether your company needs to cut expenses five, 10 or up to 20 percent. Do what it takes early in the year and bring costs down.
2. Maintaining the same product and service mix. Your needs are changing. You can bet your clients needs have changed too. Call your existing clients and ask them what they need. Then, design your product service mix around those needs.
3. Reducing marketing instead of focusing on marketing. The company that stands tall, strong and visible in the marketplace has stature and status. Differentiate with strong marketing to drive leads and sales.
4. Lacking systems to free up your time. Streamline your business and become more efficient. Use a handheld organizer to keep track of phone numbers, dates, appointments and meetings. Set a time each week to handle routine tasks, bills and paperwork.
5. Keeping everything to yourself. Your team knows the economy is tough and wants to understand what the company is facing and how, together, you can make it through. Lead toward a brighter future by focusing your efforts on today.
Richard Strug
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