As 2009 has come to an end and we look forward to 2010, what will the future hold?
In the 1989/90 recession, many businesses struggled and then thought the worst was past when the government announced the recession formally over but it was 1994 before confidence was back to a normal level and people were trading with confidence as before. During those intervening years, businesses continued to struggle; they suffered bad debts, they had to make people redundant and they went into administration. It is expected the New Year will see the present recession end as defined officially but it will be several years before the good years are back, longer this time if some pundits are right.
For some businesses in the early 1990s, administration was inevitable and often outside their control but for many that was not the case and, if they had looked at the way they ran the business in advance, they may well have survived. In a recession, some businesses thrive because the owners take stock of what is happening and what will happen in the short and medium term and they act to take best advantage of conditions as they will be rather than as they were in the past. They not only survive but thrive.
All businesses should look at the way they manage their workload, their people and their cash flow. The market they focus upon may need to change or they may need to remove or introduce different product lines. Whilst the person who knows the business best is always the business owner, sometimes he or she is too close to review the way forward alone and working with someone with an in-depth knowledge of the business community and the present marketplace can help enormously. Someone to talk to is invaluable. This is where White Egret Limited can help. A free one hour session will enable any business to begin the review process and define what is most important and most urgent for that business.
It is important to define the people who are customers. What are they looking for? What is important to them? What is their budget? What will help them to decide to buy? It may be appropriate to introduce a budget range or focus entirely on the value of the more expensive option. Car manufacturers are great at looking at separate markets and producing very different vehicles for different customers. Vauxhall, for example, are offering cars for less than £8,500 or more than £38,500 and both will have markets. Looking at what you have always done is not always a good benchmark for what should be done in the future. What changes should you make?
Free advice is available from White Egret Limited. We are pleased to offer a free initial session to talk about the general issues facing the business and to see in what ways we can help and assist. There is no obligation on either side but we are always happy to chat; call or e-mail today.
Julie Leigh julie.leigh@whiteegret.co.uk 01202 768574 07940 983132
