Don't let the headline above fool you. We are in the "season of business survival" right now. Our economy is in deep yogurt, and will be for many months to come.So what's going to get a business through this? It's certainly not one thing (no silver bullet), but rather a combination of actions.
Does your business survival kit include the following?
- Planning better.
- Scrimping, saving and scrutinizing every expense.
- Pricing so everybody wins.
- Paying closer attention to clients and customers.
- Taking a long term view.
- Marketing relentlessly.
To that last point, when we checked the home voicemail recently there were back-to-back robo-messages from two retailers.
One was from a local Chevy dealer who keeps our family car on the road. The owner of the dealership announced the return of Saturday service hours, free car washes and a co-marketing agreement with a sub shop.
The second message was from a pet shop owner. The message was plenty cutesy, but offered nothing very compelling to distinguish it from the big box pet stores with better prices and broader product choices.
Guess who's going to get my business next?
