I recently posted a video on my other blog about the concept of revamping a static site into a website that can be changed and monitored. The economy is sharply declining and the status of small businesses are hanging in the balance because of the lending crunch. Money is hard to come by and it is becoming increasingly difficult to meet payroll without a credit line to back up the lack of cash rolling into a business.
As a business owner you may be asking yourself, “When is the best time to start innovating the way I do business? When is the right time to switch up and try something new?” I am in the same boat as an owner of a social media marketing firm in Indianapolis. As a small business owner of you can get bogged down with daily routines and projects (external influences) that keep you from focusing (at least a bit) into the internal processes of your company.
When is the time to switch up and think differently? NOW. Matt Rhodes at Freshnetworks recently wrote a post entitled Innovate through a downturn, but make it customer led. He gives a few ideas on how a business owner can innovate and take control of their companies to make it through the downturn.
Some thoughts from Matt:
- Make sure you are close to your customers and that they are close to you. It should be your brand they think about when they do want to make a purchase and you should be aware of what they think and how their habits are changing.
- Innovate to stay ahead of the game. A crisis is a great time to innovate – you have to think of ways of staying ahead of the competition, of being more efficient or of new products that you can offer. It’s true of war-time, where many of the best innovations (from the pie-chart to nylon) originate; and it’s true of business during challenging economic times.
It was exactly the medicine I needed as a business owner to think a little differently when going about my daily routine.
You cannot be afraid of a declining economy. Fear turns into miscalculation which can morph into a disease that spread throughout your company and ruins productivity.
So how do you become innovative in your thinking and switch up the way you have been doing business? How do you create something that can be a vehicle to drive new business into your company? New business means an increase in cash flow (we hope) which can take your mind off the credit line that is slowly dissapating.
Answer: Crowd Source your current customers. Talk to your current customers and ask if there is anything you can do BETTER for them. Lorraine Ball at Roundpeg wrote a post yesterday about rethinking the way you “surprise and delight” your customers. Guess who can give you ideas on how to surprise? The actual people you are trying to delight: your customers.
Other Ways to Innovate Your Business and Marketing Message:
1. Send a thank you card to all of your clients. Thank them for their business and let them know you are here if they need anything from you.
2. Do small projects on the side for free for clients that may be having financial difficulties.
3. Revamp your static website into a content driven website. You can use wordpress for free and have something up within 12-24 hours.
4. Dive further into your social media networks through LinkedIN, Plaxo, Facebook, or Smaller Indiana.
Take control of your company. Innovate through the downturn and do not give into the fear of losing money or losing your business. Be strong and make a difference!
Graham C. Peck
Kyle,
These are great points, but what it seems should not be forgotten, but often is from the standpoint of small businesses is that they should ALWAYS be innovating. It seems as of late that we have heard lots of talk in our media about how Main Street is hit hard because of down turns on Wall Street however it seems that while these are major issues that Main Street had no problems living off of a Wall Street that was prosperous. It seems that businesses forgot to continue to innovate when the economy went back up and that is more than likely related to their current situation as those that did continue their innovation are booming success now more than likely! Also, it seems important that we focus on the ways in which we contact our customers and that we stay in the top of their minds at all times because this is one of the better ways to get business in the forms of repeat business and referrals. While this does not mean that we should spam them or contact them endlessly we should have at least the option for opt in reminders and updates and synthesize what in each of our markets is important into an easy to read and very short industry newsletter for our customers (or potential customers who are arguably even more important!). This should be branded with our own company’s information and should allow for them to contact us for further support and meet their needs in other new ways.