Anyone can run a company during good times. When you are making money, it's easy to overlook some of the deeper issues that are lying beneath the surface just waiting for an excuse to move to the top of your company's list of challenges and create havoc.
Paying attention, during good times and bad times, to these ten proven concepts will help your company weather today's storm and make sure the next one won't hit you so hard.
Reconnect to every single client and ask them what you can do for them. Find out what their biggest challenges are and innovate ways to help them address those challenges.
Identify three critical financial indicators that you can start sharing with all your employees. You need your employees to understand how their job impacts your bottom line and educating them will keep them engaged.
Identify what is keeping your company from being as flexible as it once was. Today you have to be able to respond to client needs quickly and efficiently. If that isn't happening, fix it.
Look around and find two strategic partners that share your client base or offer an ancillary service that complements yours. Be aggressive and spend time outlining the advantages with these alliance partners for results to appear quickly.
Find hidden pockets where profit is hiding. Examine every aspect of your business with new eyes. To find those new eyes, tap into the intelligence that resides in every single employee and find out what they see.
Look inward. Examine your own leadership skills. Now isn't the time to gloss over your weaknesses. Now is the time to reach deep inside and ask what other skills you can learn that will help your company prosper.
Assess your team. Not every person is a fit. Release the ones that need to move on and open the door to find new talent, with a new perspective, new ideas, and new blood.
What don't you know about your company that you should? Are you totally aware of how your company spends money? If not, get educated. Are you aware of what your clients think about your products or services? You better be asking.
What is your communication plan? If you don't have one, you better believe that there are vast information voids in your company and your people are filling up those information voids with negative inputs. Start communicating your vision, your plan and be aggressive about telling your employees what they need to know.
Look outward. Who can help you get a better understanding of how to manage your challenges? There are experts who can bring clarity, who can help you look ahead because they have been in your shoes. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
We believe that during the economic downturn while impacting those of us running small businesses, (defined by our government as those businesses employing fewer than 500 employees) will be fueled by our determination, our abilities to persevere and our commitment to helping our clients solve their problems.
We are a powerful engine at the core of the strong economy, and during the economic meltdown, over time will help reduce the downturn and eventually bring our economy around. By focusing on the right things at the right time, the companies that have built their success on strong principles, customer-centered products and services and a belief in the people they employ will come out stronger than ever.
- Shohreh R Aftahi, PhD