Posted by Mike Bruno on Sat, Dec 05, 2009 @ 08:44 AM
In 2009 running a small business the same old way just didn't cut it. For most, maintaining the growth experienced in recent years wasn't even on the radar. Survival became the main focus as discretionary spending disappeared, unemployment grew quarter after quarter and everything business owners thought they knew about running their businesses changed. The saying "Only the strong survive" is increasingly becoming more apparent as business bankruptcies are on the rise, employers continue to lay off workers and as a whole the small business community continues to struggle.
About twenty years ago when I was starting my first small business, I came across a saying "When the economy turns sour, create your own economy." For years I had the quote hanging in my office; however, it didn't have much impact on me until this year. I would say with confidence that the current economic climate is so sour that business owners need to think outside the box and look for new ways to create their own economy to survive.
So for the rest of 2009 start "Thinking outside the box" and develop a Outside The Box plan that starts with some goals and expectations.
- Is your goal to increase your revenue? If so by how much?
- Is your goal to maintain your revenue? If so what does that mean? What is your break even?
- Is your goal to explore and enter new markets? If so why? What is the expected revenue from each line or area of business?
- Is your goal to go in a completely different direction?
- Is your goal to use social media to increase brand awareness?
Once you have outlined your goals and expectations, it is important to develop a time line and a return on investment model.
- How do you measure your ROI for new lines or areas of business that you enter?
- Is your ROI model based on immediate revenue growth or viral social media exposure (fans or friends on Facebook, Twitter followers, Linked In connections etc..)
- What is your expected time line to see ROI?
- Define a "pull the plug date" for business strategies that aren't working and are not meeting your ROI expectations.
The final steps to Thinking Outside The Box are to take a step back, then think-plan-analyze-fix-repeat... Remember why you have your own business, that family comes first and that you're in control so make changes to be successful and never give up...