Article
“Ten Top Tips to Survive the Economic Crunch"
Everyone has pork in his or her spending habits. Ask yourself as you go through a
typical week each time you take out your wallet: Do I really need this (latte, pretzel, extra
pair of shoes)? And for your business: Are we paying for things that we really don’t need
and could do without? The truth is we can all cut down to a low-fat money diet.
Remember, the less you spend unwisely the more you get to keep and invest.
Recycle paper products and replace with more permanent supplies where possible.
My law partner does not throw out printouts from the computer that have
mistakes and must be reprinted. He tears the pages in half, turns them to the blank side,
and stacks them onto a small clipboard. Voilà! Instant note and phone message system
with purely recycled paper. The leftovers go into the shredder and then the recycle bin.
Small steps with big results. Look around you. The opportunities are everywhere.
Reduce outsourcing.
If you “hire out” or outsource certain jobs in your business, consider reducing the
number of jobs or contracts. This is likely a temporary cost-saving measure, but should
be considered for the short run until things improve in the economy. I know that that will
impact other small businesses, but you might figure out a way to barter or trade services
so that you and your vendors can both cut costs.
Contact former and present customers for additional business.
In our Pennsylvania and New Jersey law practice, our best source of new clients
is our old clients. They not only keep coming back for our services but they send family
members and friends as well. We are presently developing our client database so that we
can send out an eNewsletter and emails to further define the services we offer and offer
free general legal tips. In the meantime, when someone contacts us, we do our best to
return the call and provide top quality personalized services in the best way we can. That
is the best way to communicate to your customers that you care and want to help.
Expand to add a new product or service to your existing catalog.
Another way to increase income is to add a related product or service to your
current line. As primarily personal injury and workers’ compensation trial lawyers, our
practice has also offered our clients other legal services such as writing their wills and
setting up trust funds and representation in occasional domestic or criminal matters. In
the last five years, we have expanded our wills and estates department which increases
income. Consider analyzing your current line for a new expansion.
Start a whole new subsidiary—the more income streams the merrier.
Another good way to increase income directly is to start a whole new company,
whether related to your main business or not. Be prepared to do your homework,
whatever the new product or service is. My present two businesses of writing, which I’ve
done all my life, and my law practice these twenty years or so, complement each other
nicely. I do most of the writing and research in my firm and then I get to exercise my
creative writing skills in articles like this one. The company of A New Success, LLC,
which I have cofounded with my son this year, allows me to self-publish helpful articles,
eBooks, and a weekly eNewsletter as well. Starting a new project like that is exciting and
energizing and increases your ability to generate income in whole new ways using skills
and abilities you have honed to excellence over the years.
Increase your marketing on the Internet.
No matter how old or young you are, I encourage you to explore the possibilities
of marketing on the Internet. Cyberspace is the new frontier of marketing. Happily, some
of the more tedious aspects of marketing on the internet, such as “blasting” articles into
many directories and websites without re-entering all the information repeatedly, have
become partly automated by new companies springing up just as you need them. The
young people you can educate and encourage are out there looking for you and your
company, and often their parents and grandparents are looking over their shoulders!
Advertise your business with expert articles on the web.
Writing articles using your expertise as background and sending them out on the
web so that people can get a taste of who you are and what you do is a great way to bring
traffic to your website and then establish a relationship. Get training if you need it or hire
a ghost writer if you need more than training, but go for it. This is the age of rapidly
changing information that people want to absorb and move on, so give them what you
can from your own knowledge, information, experience and education. You do it for free
and give it for free—it’s a good way to give back to the global community and invite
people to use your services or buy your products as well.
Get feedback from your customers with a survey.
You need feedback. It’s the only way to improve your products and services to
bring them into line with what people want and expect. Listen to your customers. You
can call them up or email a questionnaire or send a snail-mail survey.
Conduct research and test marketing on old and new products and services.
For old products, try reaching a new internet market you have not used before or
use advertising or direct mail to draw in a geographic market not far from your home
base. For new products, launch them in your current catalogs both electronic and paper
under the “What’s New” banner. Send special marketing emails and see how many clicks
you get. Search for competitors online and see how they are selling their products.
Using these ten tips will definitely improve your business. In these tough
economic times, it’s imperative to improve your small business’s foundation by cutting
costs, increasing income, and improving your marketing and product lines. Believe in
your ability to take practical steps to weather this economic storm—that’s really half the
battle.
© 2008 A New Success LLC. All Rights Reserved.
About the author: Celia Ann Rooney is a writer, teacher and attorney in Philadelphia and is
co-founder and chief financial officer of A New Success, LLC. She is the author of a series of
e-books devoted to self improvement and learning the principles of success through study of
the life stories of famous people, including Success Stories: the Science and Art of Success,
Success Stories II: Early Risers and Late Bloomers, and Success Stories III: Success in Hard
Times. Her books and articles are available on the website: www.anewsuccess.com. You
may contact her at: crooney@anewsuccess.com.
“Ten Top Tips to Survive the Economic Crunch"
- Worried about your economic future? You are not alone in
this roller-coaster market. But don’t lose hope. There are
lots of practical steps you can take to improve your
situation right away. Today is the best time to start the
leaner budget you’ve been meaning to get around to,
increase your earnings, and reap savings from recycling.
As the owner of two small businesses (a law firm
partnership with my husband in Philadelphia and a new
web-based multimedia publishing company registered in
California), these tips are more than cost-cutting
measures for hard times. They are also smart practical
tips for achieving business success in the long term. Here
they are in three areas of business management: tips for
reducing costs, increasing income, and improving
marketing.
Everyone has pork in his or her spending habits. Ask yourself as you go through a
typical week each time you take out your wallet: Do I really need this (latte, pretzel, extra
pair of shoes)? And for your business: Are we paying for things that we really don’t need
and could do without? The truth is we can all cut down to a low-fat money diet.
Remember, the less you spend unwisely the more you get to keep and invest.
Recycle paper products and replace with more permanent supplies where possible.
My law partner does not throw out printouts from the computer that have
mistakes and must be reprinted. He tears the pages in half, turns them to the blank side,
and stacks them onto a small clipboard. Voilà! Instant note and phone message system
with purely recycled paper. The leftovers go into the shredder and then the recycle bin.
Small steps with big results. Look around you. The opportunities are everywhere.
Reduce outsourcing.
If you “hire out” or outsource certain jobs in your business, consider reducing the
number of jobs or contracts. This is likely a temporary cost-saving measure, but should
be considered for the short run until things improve in the economy. I know that that will
impact other small businesses, but you might figure out a way to barter or trade services
so that you and your vendors can both cut costs.
Contact former and present customers for additional business.
In our Pennsylvania and New Jersey law practice, our best source of new clients
is our old clients. They not only keep coming back for our services but they send family
members and friends as well. We are presently developing our client database so that we
can send out an eNewsletter and emails to further define the services we offer and offer
free general legal tips. In the meantime, when someone contacts us, we do our best to
return the call and provide top quality personalized services in the best way we can. That
is the best way to communicate to your customers that you care and want to help.
Expand to add a new product or service to your existing catalog.
Another way to increase income is to add a related product or service to your
current line. As primarily personal injury and workers’ compensation trial lawyers, our
practice has also offered our clients other legal services such as writing their wills and
setting up trust funds and representation in occasional domestic or criminal matters. In
the last five years, we have expanded our wills and estates department which increases
income. Consider analyzing your current line for a new expansion.
Start a whole new subsidiary—the more income streams the merrier.
Another good way to increase income directly is to start a whole new company,
whether related to your main business or not. Be prepared to do your homework,
whatever the new product or service is. My present two businesses of writing, which I’ve
done all my life, and my law practice these twenty years or so, complement each other
nicely. I do most of the writing and research in my firm and then I get to exercise my
creative writing skills in articles like this one. The company of A New Success, LLC,
which I have cofounded with my son this year, allows me to self-publish helpful articles,
eBooks, and a weekly eNewsletter as well. Starting a new project like that is exciting and
energizing and increases your ability to generate income in whole new ways using skills
and abilities you have honed to excellence over the years.
Increase your marketing on the Internet.
No matter how old or young you are, I encourage you to explore the possibilities
of marketing on the Internet. Cyberspace is the new frontier of marketing. Happily, some
of the more tedious aspects of marketing on the internet, such as “blasting” articles into
many directories and websites without re-entering all the information repeatedly, have
become partly automated by new companies springing up just as you need them. The
young people you can educate and encourage are out there looking for you and your
company, and often their parents and grandparents are looking over their shoulders!
Advertise your business with expert articles on the web.
Writing articles using your expertise as background and sending them out on the
web so that people can get a taste of who you are and what you do is a great way to bring
traffic to your website and then establish a relationship. Get training if you need it or hire
a ghost writer if you need more than training, but go for it. This is the age of rapidly
changing information that people want to absorb and move on, so give them what you
can from your own knowledge, information, experience and education. You do it for free
and give it for free—it’s a good way to give back to the global community and invite
people to use your services or buy your products as well.
Get feedback from your customers with a survey.
You need feedback. It’s the only way to improve your products and services to
bring them into line with what people want and expect. Listen to your customers. You
can call them up or email a questionnaire or send a snail-mail survey.
Conduct research and test marketing on old and new products and services.
For old products, try reaching a new internet market you have not used before or
use advertising or direct mail to draw in a geographic market not far from your home
base. For new products, launch them in your current catalogs both electronic and paper
under the “What’s New” banner. Send special marketing emails and see how many clicks
you get. Search for competitors online and see how they are selling their products.
Using these ten tips will definitely improve your business. In these tough
economic times, it’s imperative to improve your small business’s foundation by cutting
costs, increasing income, and improving your marketing and product lines. Believe in
your ability to take practical steps to weather this economic storm—that’s really half the
battle.
© 2008 A New Success LLC. All Rights Reserved.
About the author: Celia Ann Rooney is a writer, teacher and attorney in Philadelphia and is
co-founder and chief financial officer of A New Success, LLC. She is the author of a series of
e-books devoted to self improvement and learning the principles of success through study of
the life stories of famous people, including Success Stories: the Science and Art of Success,
Success Stories II: Early Risers and Late Bloomers, and Success Stories III: Success in Hard
Times. Her books and articles are available on the website: www.anewsuccess.com. You
may contact her at: crooney@anewsuccess.com.
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