What to Do When Business Gets Tough: 10-10-10

In the past 2 weeks I have had numerous conversations with business owners and leaders who have mentioned that business is now much tougher than it was 6 months ago.? One business owner mentioned to me ‘it is as if everything has shifted in the last couple months and things have just stopped.’? Of course when he said this he had a bit of panic in his eyes (never a good place to make decisions from!)

Whilst some industries are going well, many others are starting to stall and many business owners and leaders are scratching their head about what to do.? Unfortunately, many don’t have an advisor or someone to develop a solid plan with and will just start cutting.

One leader I spoke to said the CFO is now making decisions and has started to instigate a 30% cut across the company.? Whilst this may be an option, too often I see that a ‘one size fits all’ approach usually does not work as well as hoped.? This often results in cutting in the wrong areas—which can lead to demotivation, loss of productivity—and ultimately more struggle.

In working with business owners and leaders across a range of industries over the past 2-3 decades I have found there is a better approach I call the 10-10-10 Strategy which includes:

Focus on 10% More Sales & Sales Activity.? First of all, get your people to focus more on sales activity.? When staff hear about cuts, they often stop their activity as they are too busy complaining about how slow it is.? Now is the time to encourage them to be more active than they were in the past.? You also may need to help support and hold them accountable for getting on the phone to reconnect with potential customers—which is a skill many people have lost.

Trim Expenses by 10%.? This is usually the easy area to get some quick wins on.? The challenge is to ensure that it is a ‘trim’ NOT an across the board cut that stops critical sales and marketing or operational efficiencies.? Having everyone look for strategies to help trip 10% is also a way to get staff involved (which often can lead to a larger reduction than anticipated!).

Look for 10% More Opportunities or Leverage.? This is often the area that is overlooked by many business owners.? Looking for leverage or opportunities is about finding ways to streamline your approach. This could be something that involves partnering with another business to combine resources or marketing.? It could also include identifying how to improve an internal process to safe time (and staff) or getting advice to help you make smarter decisions and see more opportunities.

If you would like a find out more or would like to learn more about my Business Advisor Mentoring Program that you can use to help you make smarter business decisions and navigate through tough times click here to reach out for a discussion. ?

PS. If you would like to sign up for my free ezine to get strategies to help you improve your performance please click here.

Stay True to Your Path

Scott