Marketing and Finance - most important in a recession?
14/08/2010Having worked with SMEs for a long time (and been one myself) and having seen rather more of recessions than I would have liked, I long ago came to the conclusion that there are two important things in business that weignore at our peril when things are tough. Marketing and Finance.
Now, I’m not a marketer, so marketing doesn’t come easily to me. However, if you stop and think about it, it’s really important that we get it right, if only because it costs time and money to do and we need a return on that investment. That applies whether there’s a recession or not, but it is doubly important in a recession when every penny counts. So, we should plan for now, when it’s a tough market, but we should also plan for when things pick up. It’s a lot of thinking and writing, but worth it because it makes sure that we are ready for anything that business life has to throw at us. These plans are worth revising on a regular basis, as well, just to make sure that we have made them as robust as possible. Have a look at Business Link’s excellent articles on marketing and our sister site, MarketingPlanWiz for more ideas.
Now to finance. Do everything you can to save money wherever possible; taking care of the pennies really does help with the pounds.
But you need to be realistic – you still need to make sure that your insurance is up-to-date, for instance, but is it worth shopping around for it when it comes up for renewal? Carefully go through every item of regular expenditure and see if a) it is still necessary and b) if it is possible to get it cheaper; though you need to be careful to ensure that it still fulfils your needs. Is there anything that you can do in-house, rather than outsourcing it, or vice versa – careful costing is the key here, including time. Pay as many bills as possible on time as it develops a good relationship with creditors which could pay off later if you are unable to do it, and also saves potential late payment costs. While there renegotiate terms, if possible, with your suppliers. Create a spreadsheet if you don’t use accounting software; it only needs to be simple (money in minus money out) so that you can see what is happening now and try and project the figures into the future so that you can predict what will happen and plan for it. Keep the figures up-to-date; done regularly it doesn’t take too long. Have a look at the SmallBusiness.co.uk website for more help and advice.
This really is a personal view of what businesses should regard as important at the moment and it’s quite possible you would disagree; but on balance I think if we get marketing and finance right, everything else will follow. Good luck!
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