When you first look at starting a business, the most optimistic outcome is that you’re going to be fantastically busy dealing with new customers and clients all the time. However, that’s not true at all. Almost every business has its seasonal ups and downs. Things can slow right down to the point where it might look like the business is in real trouble. Learning to live with those slow-downs is the only way you’re going to be able to make it through and end up stronger because of it.
Here are 4 important things that business owners should keep in mind when business slows down:
Anticipate them
The sooner you start realizing when your slow periods are due and which seasons are less profitable, the more proactively you can tackle them. Smart business owners will do plenty of research in the market and find the slow periods in other companies just like theirs. Others will have to wait and see. After a year, you should be able to recognize and anticipate when a slow period is coming up. Then, you can tackle them in new ways such as changing your marketing strategy and to find new ways to promote the business so you have a better chance of making the revenue you might otherwise lose.
Patch them up
If you think of the business as a boat, then a slow period is like suddenly finding a whole in that boat. The water is going to leak in, or rather, money is going to leak out. If you can reasonably expect better times ahead, this is as good a reason as any to use your credit. Even if your score isn’t that good, a business loan for bad credit can be just what you need to patch up the ship. A cashflow injection can keep you healthy and able to keep the lights on until that slow period ends.
Survive them
After that, however, you have to be ready to right the course and steer the ship as normal. Business debt can be used effectively to stay afloat, but you should have a debt reduction strategy to get rid of them as safely and quickly as possible. That strategy should be working all year around, too. If you get into another slow period with plenty of debt already on your shoulders, you could lack access to the one financial tool that might help you out. This may mean that surviving means cutting costs you rather wouldn’t.
Outgrow them
Experience in the market and a healthy profit margin, not to mention a better credit score, should leave you in a perfect position to grow the business. Think about scaling in a way that helps you avoid or at least better sustain yourself during slow periods. New revenue streams like a new store location, new products and services, and even opportunities to outsource your labor, can help you outgrow those slow moments entirely.
Know your slow periods, what causes them, how to get through them, and finally, how to evolve past them.
