Winter Is Coming: 5 Things Your Small Business Should Be Doing Now
Created in Canva

Winter Is Coming: 5 Things Your Small Business Should Be Doing Now

Welcome back to Small Business Straight Talk, a weekly newsletter covering small business topics and highlighting the best small business resources. I am the editor of CO— by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. You can sign up for CO—’s newsletter here and follow us on LinkedIn here

With Halloween rapidly approaching, there’s no denying we are rapidly heading toward winter. For many small businesses - ranging from restaurants to construction firms - the weather is going to make this winter one of the most challenging ever.

I don’t pretend to have answers for those that continue to struggle or won’t be able to conduct business at all. But at CO—, the publication I run for small businesses from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, we are constantly working to create content that will help you push on and survive this fall and winter and get ready to thrive come spring. 

You can find all of our small business COVID resources here and we’re adding to them every day. If you’re too busy running your business to keep coming back for more advice, we can deliver our tips directly to your inbox every week. You can sign up for our newsletter here

Here a few highlights of the survival strategies we’ve got this week.

1. Focus on finances: If your business is struggling financially, it’s time to get proactive. Don’t wait until you can’t pay the bills before you start strategizing a game plan. The time to act is now. Here are seven expert tips for negotiating with business creditors.

Key takeaway: Having this conversation can be a daunting prospect, especially if your business was closed and/or lost revenue during COVID-19. However, with the right strategies and research, you can position yourself for the best chance of success. Follow these tips to help you prepare for a negotiation with your creditor. Read more here

2. Grow your sales: It’s never been more important to your business to identify every sales opportunity you have. That might mean taking a new approach. Here’s a guide to sales prospecting and a list of sales prospecting tools that will help you do it. 

Key takeaway: When done correctly, sales prospecting leads to solid customers and flourishing sales. But if done incorrectly, you’ll have weak prospects and waste your time chasing down leads that won’t net you the results you need to succeed. Read more here.

3. Refocus on your employees: Your employees (like you) have been through a lot this year. Don’t take their loyalty or their mental health for granted. Here are 24 ways to keep them engaged and satisfied and ready to help your business survive the next few months. 

Key takeaway: When employees have a clear and accurate understanding of why things are the way they are, it gives them a sense of control at work, even if they don’t necessarily agree with all of the reasons or logic. Read more here.

4. Cut costs: While you likely always run a tight ship, it’s more important than ever to know exactly what you’re spending on and make sure every penny is worth it. Here are 10 smart and practical ways to cut costs and a few tech tools that will help you do it

Key takeaway: If you need to cut your overhead costs, the first step is setting aside time to comb through every single expense you have and understand exactly how much you're spending. Once you've taken that step, you can start to assess what's necessary, what can be reduced and what should be eliminated entirely. Read more here

5. Make some tough calls: There’s no doubt you’ll be making a lot of difficult decisions this fall - whether you’re growing or struggling. The good news is that there are some processes you can use to help you make the right ones. You can learn more about them here

Key takeaway: Everyone wants to make the best and most informed decisions they can. And when you’re a business owner, every choice carries much more weight. These five processes you can implement to make more effective decisions in your business.

Jeanette Mulvey is a passionate advocate for small business and the Executive Director of Content for CO— by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

CO— is now on Instagram and we’d love for you to follow us there!

Kenneth Igiri

Enterprise Architect | Enabling Long-Term Business-Tech Alignment with Architecture & Strategy Tools

4 年

On Point!

回复
Thomas Rockey

Area Manager at G GROUP

4 年

Thanks for posting

回复
Sheryll Shaikh

From Teacher to Social Media Manager of Innovative Schools and Educational Services

4 年

Just the message I need! Thank you!

Melissa Bitter

Content Marketing Specialist

4 年

Brilliant!

要查看或添加评论,请登录

社区洞察

其他会员也浏览了