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	Five Things To Do When Sales Are Slow

	by Anne Wenzel

Small business sales are much slower in the United States lately. According to a summary report of Small Business Economic Trends Survey for June 2001 (conducted by the National Federation of Independent Business), “Reports of sales DECLINES have not been this pervasive since 1990,” and, “Widespread sales declines produced the highest frequency of reported profit declines since 1991. Eighteen percent reported that profits were rising (up a point), but 44 percent reported that earnings weakened (up 9 points).” If you’re struggling through your start-up phase or were barely profitable up to now, the slowdown is bad news. But if you’ve been able to maintain a STABLE client base and reasonable cash flow this year, there some really great things you as a small business owner can do during these slow economic times.

REVISE YOUR BUSINESS PLAN

It’s always difficult to take time to go back and revise your plan once you realize your MARKET or your business FOCUS has changed. Serving customers is much more pressing than researching and writing about your business. However, an up-to-date business plan is essential for managing a well-run business over the long haul. Think of a sales slowdown as an excellent time to RE-EXAMINE your markets, operations and management structure -- and document your future course!

CONDUCT YOUR OWN MARKET RESEARCH

Keeping your current customers happy is essential to keep them from shopping with your competitors. But when things are busy, filling current orders or meeting project deadlines is about all you can do. If your sales have slowed up a bit, you can take time to design a customer satisfaction SURVEY. Ask them questions about how satisfied they’ve been doing business with you, and ask them to offer at least one suggestion for how you could improve your product, service or customer service. You should offer those who fill out the survey in full a DISCOUNT on a future order, a free gift, or even a gift certificate to a business like Amazon.com or a local restaurant. You’ll learn some very valuable information on how to adjust your business offerings or operations to keep -- and maybe even gain -- customers.

WRITE ARTICLES OR GIVE LECTURES

If you’ve cut back on advertising expenditures to conserve CASH, publishing articles can help keep your company name in the public eye. Submit them to the editor of your professional associations’ journals, or online. You can even print articles up as a mini-newsletter and pass them out at your networking meetings. Just make sure your bio and company information appears at the end of your article so people can easily contact you or visit your web site. Also offer to speak at professional meetings on topics in your area of expertise (and pass out brochures when you’re there!). By substituting your TIME for cash advertising outlays, writing articles and giving presentations can help protect your bottom line and maintain public EXPOSURE for your company.

EDUCATE YOURSELF

Change is just the way things are, and lifelong education is essential for surviving in the 21st century marketplace. Slow times for your business just may FREE UP enough time for you to take a business management or technology class at the local community college or small business development center (www.sba.gov). You may even want to take a TELECLASS that doesn’t take you off site -- you can learn a lot right from your desk. Teleclass International offers quality free and for fee classes – check www.teleclassworld.com for details.

TAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF

Rest up for when the good times roll again. Re-connect with family and friends, exercise more or spend time on a hobby. Running a business requires constant hard work, sometimes 7 days a week, so take advantage of the DOWN time. Recessions tend to be a form of economic Darwinism. Companies that sell goods and services people don’t necessarily need or want, or that were poorly run to begin with, will go out of business. Take time to RE-CHARGE when business is slow, so that you’ll be ready and rearing to go when your sales up swing begins again.

Anne Wenzel is owner of Econosystems, an economics and market research firm providing market research, marketing and business management services. Sign up for our monthly eNewsletter, Small and Home Business Market Monthly at . Visit her website at www.econosystems.com. Anne may be contacted at .

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