Five Hints for Surviving a Business Slump
Starting and running a home-based business has plenty of benefits and can generate a decent living quite easily, but the ride isn't always simple. When sales are slow or new customers are sparse, you don't need to throw in the towel and call it quits.
Business is a cycle. Sometimes it's booming and other times it's not, but neither state is permanent. The difference is that while business is booming, your biggest concern is meeting the needs of your multitude of customers. When things are not, you may be scrambling to keep everything on track.
Below you will find a few suggestions about what to do and what not to do when your home-based business hits a slump:
1) Keep in Touch with Past Customers
When business is going great, you may have a tendency to forget those past clients who helped get you where you are today.
Yet, when things slow down, they can be your safety rope. Now is the time to drop them a friendly email or note with a pleasant message.
Don't come across as needy and don't tell them you are experiencing slowdown, but do ask them to keep you in mind if they have need of your services or if they know of any colleagues who may be in need as well.
Be sure to include your business card or contact information just in case they've misplaced it since you last worked together.
2) Avoid Cutting Prices
If sales stagnate, you may be tempted to boost business by dropping prices. While a temporary sale or special offer may attract new customers, if you expect to cut prices across the board in order to raise revenue then you may be making a mistake in judgment.
When a new customer can pay $25 for your product during a slowdown, how are they going to react when you try to raise that price back up to $35 or $45 after things pick up? Once you lower prices, it's difficult to get them pack up again, so cut prices only as a last resort.
3) Make Budget Changes Carefully
When revenue is dripping in instead of pouring, you may need to trim some budgets, but be careful to make those reductions wisely. Your first instinct may be to cut back on staffing, distribution, or customer service. While these changes may help in the short term, they may cause you to lose clients in the long run.
Never make any budget alterations that might end up hurting your customers and costing you business.
4) Never Skimp on Quality or Quantity
Two things determine customer satisfaction: quality and quantity. If you are trying to cut corners in order to save money, you may consider making alternations in these two vital areas.
However, doing so may throw your business into more peril than any temporary downturn in the cycle. When you provide services or products which fail to meet the customers' expectations, you put yourself in a position to lose repeat business, and repeat business is where the money is.
Also, remember that happy customers are likely to tell others how satisfied they were with your company. Likewise, unhappy customers typically don't hide their dissatisfaction. Maintaining your current level of quality and quantity, or even increasing it, should be among your top priorities.
5) Never Appear Desperate
People like to do business with those who are successful.
Therefore, if you approach potential clients with the air of desperation in your voice, you are more likely to scare them away than enlist their aid during this difficult period.
Examples of desperation may not just be obvious in what you say to your customers but also in what you do. For instance, if you significantly reduce your quote in order to secure their business, you may be sending them the wrong message. Stay positive and optimistic. After all, nothing attracts business like a good attitude.
By following these suggestions, you'll be able to tackle those bumps in the road and still come out on top of the game..
Vishal P. Rao is the owner of http://www.home-based-business-opportunities.com - One of Internet's leading website dedicated to starting, managing and marketing a home based business.
New Online Resale Site Outperforming Expectations
(ContentDesk) January 24, 2004 -- Driven by lower operating costs to the consumer the newyorkshopexchange.com as well as the physical store is gaining membership base and exposure at a more rapid pace than anticipated.Since the Grand Upload in Dec of 2002 we have seen our memberships and exposure to the site and store outperform our original expectations.We attribute the interest in the site due to our low operating costs for the sellers,an annual membership fee of 45.00 allows a seller to bring the inventory to the internet arena with out a burden of high operating costs and keep selling prices low..
New Online Resale Site Outperforming Expectations
Oil prices > New Online Resale Site Outperforming Expectations
5 Easy Ways to Lower Blood Pressure Using 1 Great Fruit
Copyright 2006 Frank Mangano
Have you had your lycopene today? If you ate a green salad with fresh chopped tomatoes, then you not only got a healthy dose of this powerful antioxidant, but you have also taken significant action toward lowering your blood pressure. A recent double-blind study conducted in Israel has confirmed what hearth-healthy Italians have enjoyed for centuries ? tomatoes (and tomato sauce) lower blood pressure and the risk of heart disease.
The Israeli study was led up by Dr. Esther Paran, head of the hypertension division of Soroka Medical Center. It involved patients who were already being treated for hypertension, but were not responding well to the medications. Dr.
Paran had patients take a supplement of tomato extract. The results were a significant drop in blood pressure after just four weeks.
Tomatoes are so effective at lowering blood pressure because they contain lycopene. This potent antioxidant is even the focus...
Oil prices > 5 Easy Ways to Lower Blood Pressure Using 1 Great Fruit
New Internet Web Site Helps Home Owners Avoid Costly Oil Tank Spills
(ContentDesk) August 27, 2004 -- The web site is dedicated to helping homeowners prevent costly home oil tank spills, leaks or environmental damage. Statistics show 1 in 10 systems have installation concerns with 8 out of 1,000 already starting to fail. Tankhealth.com web site includes an Internet based software solution, which enables homeowners to generate a detailed risk potential report, customized to their home oil tank. This helps the homeowner save potentially thousands of dollars in cleanup costs. Tankhealth.com is the only web based on-line risk analysis solution for home oil tanks on the market today.
Based on Tank Track, the same risk analysis system used by the insurance industry to reduce oil spill losses and help protect the environment.Basebridge Limted is a leader in providing advanced solutions for inspection automation and products that help protect the environment since 2000. http://www.basebridge.com or...
New Internet Web Site Helps Home Owners Avoid Costly Oil Tank Spills
Oil prices > New Internet Web Site Helps Home Owners Avoid Costly Oil Tank Spills
Fat burning foods and weight loss
Copyright 2006 David McEvoy
We all know about foods that are good for us and have various proven benefits. But many people aren't aware that there are actually fat-burning foods, which help kick-start your body into shedding excess weight. These wonder-foods can increase the number of fat calories your body burns ? they're like little diet-helpers, stimulating your metabolism. They are known as ?free foods', and as you'd expect they are low in calories. However, some of them actually have ?negative' calories, meaning that your body burns more calories metabolising the foods than it absorbs from the food itself.
Add them to your diet and see the effect for yourself!
The great news is that such ?superfoods' contain real health benefits in addition to their amazing weight loss assisting properties. These benefits make them ideal components in any weight loss programme. You may be surprised to discover where to find some of these great little helpers.
Oil prices > Fat burning foods and weight loss
Gift Card and Loyalty Provider Determined to Stomp the Competition with the Introduction of PatronFlexTM
Northfield, NJ (ContentDesk) October 18, 2005 -- Preferred Market Solutions has just done the unthinkable. Theyve introduced a new program called PatronFlexTM, offering prospective merchants just that, flexibility to the extreme. With the introduction of PatronFlexTM, any company, large or small, can take advantage of three (3) full months of Gift Card and Loyalty program management plus a starter pack of 50 semi-custom full-color gift cards, absolutely free. There are no start up or activation...
Oil prices
Oil prices > Gift Card and Loyalty Provider Determined to Stomp the Competition with the Introduction of PatronFlexTM
How To Get a Good Value on Personal Loans
Over recent years, personal loans have become a popular solution for many consumers looking to raise finance for a variety of purposes. You can get personal loans for all sorts of things, from debt consolidation to holidays, cars and other purchases. It is far easier these days to get a great deal on finance, with cheap personal loans available from a variety of competitive lenders.When looking into personal loans, you should consider a number of factors. Comparing the interest rates and terms...
Oil prices Five Hints for Surviving a Business Slump How To Get a Good Value on Personal Loans
Oil prices > How To Get a Good Value on Personal Loans
Oil prices Five Hints for Surviving a Business Slump perfume
JK Harris Combines Efforts to Provide Customer with Happy Ending
Thanks to the combined efforts of two divisions of JK Harris and Company, a client in Virginia sleeps better at night.JK Harris and Company is the largest and most successful tax resolution firm in the country. JK Harris 165 Services is a division of JK Harris & Company and is the nation's leader in assisting victims of investment fraud recover some of their losses through an often overlooked tax provision of the Internal Revenue Code, Section 165(c)(2). Section 165 allows victims to accelerate...
Oil prices Five Hints for Surviving a Business Slump tax help JK Harris Combines Efforts to Provide Customer with Happy Ending
Oil prices > JK Harris Combines Efforts to Provide Customer with Happy Ending
Oil prices Five Hints for Surviving a Business Slump perfume
Oil prices Five Hints for Surviving a Business Slump patio furniture
Oil prices
This page loaded in 0.05787 seconds.