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Expert Answers to Biz Questions
Listen in! Pick up some expert advice to a reader's question that we selected from CyberSchmooz.
5 Tips for Surviving Through a Slow Business Period
With COVID-19 hitting so many businesses and industries around the world at the moment, more people than ever are experiencing a slow business period. Whether your business has been forced to shut down completely due to lockdowns, or you’ve had to move to a remote environment, or perhaps limit your operations and services offered, it is a tough time for the majority of people.
And while the reasoning for the slow business period makes sense, there’s still the question of how can you survive through this slow time? How can you ensure you still have an income and that there is still a business standing at the end of this? Here we’ll look at five tips that will answer just that question.
Monitor Your Cash Flow Closely
The first tip is to immediately get a close eye on your cash flow. You need to be monitoring every single dollar spent to ensure that you can cover all expenses. Ideally, you want to try to project your cash flow requirements over a one, three, and six-month period to paint a clearer picture.
It's Time to Do an Inventory Count
This is also a great time to be doing an inventory count to see exactly where the business stands. You may find you're able to cut back on inventory a bit since things are slow, which then saves on expenses. If possible, you can also look into converting your inventory to cash. Sometimes you are able to return items to a supplier, so it's an avenue worth pursuing.
Now Is Not the Time to Take on New Expenses
Before your slow period, there’s no doubt you had goals and milestones in mind for the company, and you may have been well on your way to achieving. Now that things are slow, it’s time to re-assess. Keep in mind that a slow period is not the time to take on new expenses that can be put off until later such as expansion and investing in new equipment and material.
Connect with Loyal Customers
While many businesses may assume that a slow period means you need to get out there and actively pursue new customers, in reality, connecting with your loyal customer base is cheaper and easier. This is a great time to create an email newsletter to send out to customers in your database, thank them for their business, let them know what is new, and then give them an incentive to connect with you and make a purchase. This could be with a discount code, a promotion, an exclusive offering, and so forth.
Look for Ways to Earn Supplement Income
Sometimes, even with all your best efforts to drum up additional business and bring in that extra income, it just won’t be enough. If you’re finding that is the case, then it may be time to get a little creative and look for ways to supplement your income outside of your business. While there are all kinds of avenues you could take, this could be the ideal time to dip your toes into options trading.
Options trading is different than stock trading as it takes very little time to trade, there is great leverage, the risk is limited, and you can profit in a variety of market states - even in a slow period. At the very least, it could be worth investigating further so you can determine if it would be a good path at this time.
Getting Through the Rough Patch
Getting through a slow business period can be incredibly difficult, so it’s important to have a game plan and be aware of the tips and steps that can help.
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