Today we are unlikely to find out who first said that life is a roller coaster - once you are down and once again up. But surely it must have been a small-business owner - many of them could tell! Open Forum asked a successful businesswoman Molly Fuller for advice on how to bounce back when the crisis comes. She set up a successful business, which was significantly affected by the economic recession. From day to day the phones stopped ringing. So how did Fuller managed to avoid bankruptcy and reach last year's turnover of $ 1.2 million?
- Cut unnecessary expenses. Fuller lifted some external positions, and moved certain functions back in-house. In addition, she and her partner cut their salaries in half. It looks scary, but it helped.
- Examine your finances. You have to know how every penny is spent. Only then can you cut costs.
- Continue to innovate. Think how you can extend the offer without driving down the value of the product. Fuller discovered that instead of organizing events in places outside the company and paying high rent, she could do them within their own premises. Not only it considerably saved costs, it also increased the profit margin.
- You're more resilient than you think. Fuller felt completely paralyzed when the crisis hit the company. But then she met an older businessman, who asked her: "Is this your first recession?" She nodded. Then he added: "It gets much easier after the first one." It calmed her down and she realized that she could handle the crisis. And she really did.
- Build a good relationship with your bank. This is necessary so you can continue to innovate even if you do not have enough cash.
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