What to Do When Business is Slow

Many company owners are stumped when it comes to what to do when business is slow. After a spell of relative success, a quiet period can be a cause of great worry for some owners.

The truth is, however, that almost every company owner will go through patches where business is slow. This is quite common, and occasionally unavoidable for certain industries, but can still lead to feeling a little too vulnerable.

We’ve compiled a guide below for anyone wondering what to do when business is slow. While some suggestions may not be applicable for your business, you’re sure to find at least a handful of different ideas that can help you out of a slump.

 

How to increase sales when business is slow

It may seem a little too simplistic, but breaking down the issue can often help.

If you’re looking for more sales, you’ll need to think about what brings in sales in the first place. For many businesses, that’s good solid leads. By focusing on this, suddenly you can put a focused strategy in place that may well lead to more sales.

In general, leads are the fruit of good marketing plan. You needn’t spend a fortune on a multi-platform campaign, though. There are several ways in which you can increase your brand’s presence.

• Do you have an email list? Try crafting a newsletter that provides offers, competitions, and information on new product lines for recipients.
• Don’t neglect your social media channels. These are also great places to promote offers and keep your brand in the public consciousness.
• Participate in webinars or other events that position you as a thought leader and authority in your sector.
• Review your website to ensure that it provides a compelling value proposition for customers. Ask friends and family to try to make a purchase through it, and feedback on any obstacles they faced.
• Look into targeted online ads. Your business can really home in on the demographics most likely to buy from it by utilising search engines and social networks.

 

 

Look at your conversion rate

Some may be wondering what to do when business is slow despite getting plenty of leads in.

There are three main possible issues if this is the case.

• The leads are of a low quality
• Your product/service doesn’t meet the customer’s requirements
• The customer service or sales funnel needs improving

Assuming your leads are good then, you just need to concentrate on the latter two issues to arrest your company’s slump.

• Try to obtain feedback from those that choose not to buy from you. What are their objections? Use this information to refine your product or service
• If the main objection is price, take a look at your processes to identify areas in which you might be able to save costs and pass that saving on to the customer.
• Improving customer service is a simple step to take. Make sure that you or your sales team are prompt, courteous, knowledgeable and helpful in all transactions with the public. This applies to all interactions too. Even if someone is not going to buy, your professionalism in dealing with them can be the difference between positive or negative word of mouth publicity.
• Strengthen your sales skills. Master the art of building a rapport, countering objections, and closing sales.
• Remove any needless obstacles from the sales process, whether it be online or instore. It should never be difficult for a customer to spend their money on your business. Ensure that your customers’ journeys are smooth, simple and not drawn out.

If you can increase your conversion rate, you may not even need to bring in more leads to see an upturn in fortunes.

 

Can you reduce your costs?

Businesses can navigate slow periods more comfortably by reducing their running costs. By doing this, profits rise without having to actually increase sales.

There are a variety of ways in which you could achieve this. The following are just a handful of potential options.

• Suppliers, landlords, and vendors can all be negotiated with. If there’s no room for any savings, you may even be able to move your contract elsewhere.
• Depending on your industry, you may be able to outsource some of your work overseas or to local agencies.
• Look for machinery or automated software that can help you to streamline tasks. These can save on money, time and even errors.
• Streamline your product offering. Do you have some products or services that don’t sell well and cost you a lot to offer?

 

Be honest with yourself

Instead of asking “why is business so slow right now?” you should take steps to ensure that business is slow for everyone and not just you.

Every business venture starts off as a profit-making means, and any owner will be sad to see their business flop. However, the secret to success in business is objectiveness and being realistic with oneself. You must be willing to ask hard questions and answer truthfully without trying to spin the causes of business failure to more palatable reasons. Note any faults in your business plan or management in order to correct these and improve the company.

 

Make a list of problems and possible solutions

Your business is in many ways like your child, and although you love them, they might misbehave. Make an honest list of everything that has gone wrong. You must be able to think objectively to make a positive change in your business. Documentation of these problems helps you to create possible solutions and come up with a business plan that works effectively for you.

 

Have a deep soul search

Consider the parts of your beliefs that hamper your ability to take business risks or invite others to help out. As you make changes within the business structure, you must also restructure your mind to breed excellence within and around you. Try not to let go of positive thoughts and take the risks that appear to be worth trying.

 

Recall your business vision

One of the best things to do when you don’t know what to do when business is slow is to revisit your original intentions. Most business owners tend to forget why they went into business after a while. It’s a good idea to go back to your original business vision and recall everything you planned to achieve in business. Has your company veered off from your original vision? If so, dragging it back on course may help to arrest quiet periods.

 

Build and equip your team

Your business is like a chain: it’s only as strong as its weakest link. As such, you invest in your workforce in order to maximise their potential. This may seem costly and time consuming, but when you have the right team that believes in your vision and wants to help you grow, your business will flourish almost automatically.

Take the time to understand your team’s strengths and weaknesses. If an employee is struggling and their training isn’t providing the required improvement, is there another area of the business that might be a better fit for them.

 

 

Get customer feedback

Negative feedback is far more useful to you than positive reviews. Hence, you should never tire of criticism and feedback from your customers and request for these as often as possible.  Try not to dismiss any complaints, and instead use them to improve your business.

 

Be flexible and willing to go all out

Business is a game of flexibility and only those that can bend to its whims come out successful. Be willing to tear up parts of your business that are not doing so well, and try other avenues.

 

Make workable market strategies

Your products and services must connect with the right people in order for your business to work and be successful. Hence, you must incorporate the right marketing strategies to introduce your business to the right crowd in the right light. First impressions matter so make sure that the first interactions that you have with potential customers leave an impression. You must strive to distinguish your products and services from competitors in the business and appeal to the sense of needs of your clients and customers.

 

Stick to CANI

No, not the Canoe Association of Northern Ireland, but if you do find yourself up the proverbial without a paddle, the constant and never-ending improvement espoused by Author, Tony Robbins may help you out of a spot.

Even when your business is thriving, you can always do better. Therefore, always seek constant and never-ending improvement in all aspects of your business. You will thrive and soar in business when you seek to improve on your present state. Learning never stops for a business owner and with more knowledge, growth and improved profits are constant in your business.

 

Don’t be afraid to seek external help

Companies will always benefit from advice from other business owners, customer feedback, and business analysts. Seek and collate advice, sift through feedback and make informed decisions concerning your company.

Even in a dire situation there is usually a solution that can be applied that looks after you and your employees. The best thing you can do is speak to an insolvency and business recovery specialist. An independent outlook on your business can make a crucial difference.

They’ll be able to help you come up with a working viable solution and help take away some of the stress you feel.

 

What to do when business is slow so you can avoid insolvency

When business is slow, it makes it much harder to pay your creditors. If you think that circumstances might lead to your company becoming insolvent, you’ll need to take action to cut costs as soon as possible

 

Take stock of your position

It’s easy to get caught up in day-to-day survival but the important thing to do is to take a step back.  Look at the bigger picture. Does your business have a future once your creditors have been paid?

Focus on working out a long-term solution rather than firefighting the smaller issues.

 

Assess your restructuring options

When a company is in crisis, tough decisions have to be made.  How can you make your company work?  Can your staff undertake multiple roles?  Do you need to make redundancies?

 

 

Make the most of your assets

Sometimes, you may need to trade in your assets in order to stay afloat or put your business plan into motion. You may be able to replace them with something less expensive, or outsource the area of your business it corresponds to. Businesses evolve all of the time, and many still have assets that were essential to them when starting out, but serve little purpose now.

It can be prudent to look at your company’s assets to see what you can reasonably liquidate and keep the company running, rather than clinging on until they are liquidated for you.

 

Concentrate on the essentials

Look at your outgoings – what do you see as essential costs?  Again, these decisions can be tough; you may have to sever long-standing relationships with suppliers, staff ‘perks’ may have to be cut until you are back on your feet.

Figure out what is absolutely essential to the survival of the business. See if there is any way that costs can be cut.

This may unfortunately lead to some redundancies but if the company was to close these would happen anyway.

If this can be done before any insolvency proceedings take place you can usually get a better price for them.

 

What are your financing options?

Have you exhausted all options?  As long as you can prove you are doing all you can by looking at all of the points above, you may find that creditors or financial establishments are a little more open to helping you out. After all, if your company goes bust, they’ll be losing a client.

Remember creditors would rather have something than nothing, and the liquidation of your company would not guarantee payment.  Are they willing to consider a payment plan to pay off your debt whilst spreading payments out?

There are quite a few financing options available to companies with financial pressures, from short term loans through to invoice financing and these can help businesses stay afloat during times of hardship.

 

Make a strategic change in your business

Knowing what to do when your business is struggling is difficult, that’s why we offer free, no-obligation advice to explore your options.

Call us today for free, confidential advice on 0800 060 8398 or arrange a free meeting with one of our advisers →

Even if your company is running quite healthily at the moment, it can pay to think of what to do when business is slow. Putting some of these strategies in place now can actually help you to avoid leaner periods in the long run

If you are looking to drive more sales, increase profit, and improve your business’ performance then our Strategic Business Review will help you identify where more sales can be made, how to maximise your profits, and improve your business’ performance.

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