How to recession-proof your business in 13 steps (Part 2)

Bubble about to burst? Pic credit: Flickr CC FotoDawg




OK, here's part 2 of my thoughts about how, in these times of financial hardship, you can go some way towards making your business recession proof.

(If you missed part 1, go here to see it.)




8. Your product is your marketing. Too many companies come up with a product then think about how to sell it. That's the stupid way. You should have your market in mind when your potential product is still in R&D. Marketing isn't a bolt on service, it's an integral part of the whole enterprise. (Want ideas for products? See point 5 and listen to your customers!)

9. Stop advertising. Start RED marketing instead if possible. If you won't do that, just stop throwing same-old, same-old ads out there. They cost too much and the best you can hope for is 2% response. So 98% of people ignore you. There was a name for people at school who got ignored by 98% of the other kids - losers. Ads have a place in the marketing mix, but save your money where possible and throw it into the other ideas in this list.

10. Build relationships with suppliers. I mean real relationships. Get to know them. Understand their business model. Not only are they valuable sources of information about the market, they might even be able to help you in ways you haven't thought of. So take them out for lunch (yes, you pay!), pay invoices on time, play golf, ask about their families. Networking is key. Suppliers might traditionally be lower on the food chain but in this interconnected world that's BS that you should forget about.

11. Build relationships with your competitors. I mean real relationships. Whilst it may seem counter intuitive (less business = more fighting, not more cooperation, right?) it's definitely the way to go. More heads are better than 1 and even in a recession there should be enough business around for you and your competitors to thrive, as long as you have real relationships. Plus, you're going to be so busy rocking your new niche focus (see point 6) that you won't have to worry about your competitors soon enough. So it's all good networking.

12. Embrace the fear. Scarcity, strife and difficulty all lead to trouble, right? Wrong! They also lead to innovation, if you're smart! Let your superstars (point 3) and your customers (point 5) lead you down the wonderful path of innovation. Then you get to point 1.

13. Look around you once in a while. Plenty of organisations thrive in a recession. Plenty come out of it stronger than ever. Look at what other people are doing and copy it where you can. Recessions come and go, economies are cyclical. You can sit around whining about it or you can get down to business. (And if you've read this far, I reckon you're more likely to go with the latter, right?)


There's my 13 points. As I said in part 1, more intended as a starting point for a conversation than a complete 'how to' guide. What do you think though?

Am I completely off the mark? Am I on the right track? What have I missed? What would you ignore? What are you already doing? Is the whole recession thing a load of crap anyways? I'd love to hear answers to these questions and comments generally so shout up if you want to get involved. Comments or email, I love 'em both.

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P.P.S. Like some of the ideas in this but no idea how to execute? Why not drop me a line and I'll be happy to help out. In case you don't know, I'm a freelance marketing guy (the non-evil type) and I love talking to people about ideas and strategies for their business. See my site for more info, or just give me a call (07732 083 548) or drop me an email (james at jamesparronline dot com)

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How to recession-proof your business in 13 steps (Part 1)

Pic credit: Flickr CC aturkus



More and more people I talk to seem to be increasingly worried about the potential impact of the credit crunch and the possibility of a recession. It seems pretty likely now I guess, so I can see where the worry is coming from.

It's had me thinking the last couple of days, and with all that financial doom and gloom in mind, I knocked up a list of positives to balance things out - 13 things you can do to make your business recession proof.

This isn't intended as a guide really, more as a talking point. I've broken it down into 2 parts, to save you reading a damn long post all at once. Part 2 will come later this week. I may flesh things out at a later date too, but for now, here are my thoughts...

1. Be Remarkable. Goes without saying really. If your business is remarkable (i.e. people will remark on it) then you stand a much better chance of succeeding (whether there's a recession on or not).

2. Cut your dead wood. Controversial one, but you should really get rid of all those people in your business who don't do any good. If they're not right for you, cut them. (If it makes you feel better, if they're not right for you then you're definitely not right for them.)

3. Pay the 'dead wood' money to your superstars. All that money you save by getting rid of those people you can do without should not just be squirreled away. If you do that the you're not going to get out of any ensuing slump. Your superstars will get you out of the slump though. This is where they really show what they're made of. Give them all a hike in pay, tell them what needs doing and watch your business sail through problems. (N.B. If you don't have any superstar employees, then you're in trouble. Now is definitely the time to invest in some.)

4. Build a permission asset. You need to have an ongoing relationship with potential clients pretty much all the time. In a recession though, it's even more important. the best way to do that is to build permission assets for your business, i.e. people who are willing to give you something (usually their email and name, possibly more as time goes on) with a view to you sending them useful, relevant, timely information. This is called leading people down the path to a sale and it is (almost) completely foolproof. (Read Seth Godin's book Permission Marketing for more on this.)

5. Listen to your customers. Follow that up by doing what they tell you to. It's not about how you sell to people in a recession, it's about why they buy. (Actually this is also true outside of a recession).

6. Quit things. Another Seth Godin inspired one (read his book The Dip too). You know the things that you do that don't make you very much money, but you still do them? Quit them. Now. (And see point 7...)

7. Embrace the 'long tail'. Specialise, focus, find a niche. You're far more likely to find people who want to buy from you than if you try to be a jack of all trades. The long tail is a far better place to be when times are tough, and leaves you with a potentially profitable niche to dominate when the economy starts to chill the hell out.


OK, that's part 1, part 2 will follow later in the week. If you don't want to miss it you could sign up to my feed, so you're notified whenever I throw something new up on the blog. Also, what do you think of the 1st part? Making sense so far or all absolute rubbish? I'd love to hear from you whatever your opinion on it. Hit me up in the comments if you want to join in!

Friday fun

I was looking for something fun and interesting to link to today and found the following story on the Beeb website. It's not fun-crazy (like the video of the man smashing up his office - sort of nsfw) but rather fun-wonderful.

Today, June 6th 2008, is the birthday of an exceptional man - Henry Allingham. Amazingly, he is 112! Yes, one hundred and twelve years old. And still going strong!

Read the story and watch the video; he really is an inspiring man (and not because of his long life, but because of what he's done with it).

If you need some inspiration today, then I reckon you should be able to take it from him.

Still here

Despite the evidence to the contrary (my disappearance from twitter and this blog particularly) I am not dead.

No plan behind the sabbatical from all things social-networking related. I've been thinking hard about my business, blogging, the appetite in the UK for the brand of marketing that I espouse and many more things. All that thinking has led to more questions rather than more answers unfortunately. Such is life, as they say.

Going forward I'm going to try and get back into the swing of blogging regularly. I still believe that all this new social stuff is inherently good for people and good for business and am hoping that approaching it with renewed vigour will lead to my bank balance backing up that assertion at some point in the future. (The general costs associated with setting myself up to fly solo make a case to say that money is a very intangible thing, and easier to acquire when you're in possession of a rather large amount of it already...)

So I'm still here and will be for some time yet, all being well.

(Thanks as always if you're reading this y'all - the conversations rather seem to be the point, in and of themselves really, in my mind.)