Are You Flexible? 5 Ways to Grow Your Business in a Down Economy

If this is TL;DR, bookmark it and hit it when you have a few minutes because I think many of us can use a recalibration which is my goal for this article!

One of the great pleasures I have in my career is watching my partners grow their businesses by the sweat of their brow. I love being a part (albeit a small part) of that success. When the economy slows however, it's easy to get into a rut and lose momentum. It's human nature to focus on the negative events that transpired which have created our current economic conditions. I'd argue that it's biologically hard-coded into our DNA as a defense mechanism, we are predisposed to be hyper-aware of things that may cause us harm. Unfortunately, many of us never realize that it takes self-awareness and practice to toggle this "feature" on and off as it serves to harm us in business more than it helps. 

When times are hard, we rationalize and compromise our goals so that we can feel "okay" about our situation when we should be looking for creative ways to take advantage of the market. Not everyone suffers in a down economy, as a matter of fact, some businesses thrive as a direct result of market contraction!

Think about this, do you stop buying things you "need" because of the fluctuating market? Not really, you need them! So you may open up your options to products/services that may be more affordable, offer more flexible payment terms, deliver bigger value, etc., but the transactions are still occurring. 

Not everyone suffers in a down economy, as a matter of fact, some businesses thrive as a direct result of market contraction!

Furthermore, businesses that have been married to their products for years may start to open up the bidding process, which was unfathomable in a Bull Market, but now makes sense for them. This of course opens up the doors for smaller organizations to pitch solutions when they've never had the chance to even talk to decision-makers! A company that's not willing to evaluate cost-saving solutions & services during a down economy today has yet to feel the bone-cutting measures other companies are currently enduring.

I've had the opportunity to ask my partners the open-ended (and non-loaded) question, "What are you experiencing in the market?", and the answers are enlightening. They range from, "The oil/gas business has impacted spending" to "The pending Presidential Election has companies concerned".

Something is happening, that's for sure, but because we struggle to transcend our own experience, we often fail to evaluate the market economy objectively. Doing so would require an incredible amount of analytics and big data that most of us simply don't have access to. Even so, having the data doesn't always mean we will choose to embrace it, especially if it doesn't affirm our own personal & current experience.

What we tend to focus on is either anecdotal or passed along like a virus through news outlets. Keep in mind, in media, bad news = increased ratings. Media is incentivized to lock in on and perpetuate negative stories than focus on positive market KPIs. 

The Myth: Companies are Failing
Sure, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is slightly down from Q1 2015. But the fact is that it has grown 13% over the last three months!

The Myth: The Economy is Contracting
I'll stipulate that the GDP had its weakest performance since the first quarter of 2014, but in actuality, the GDP has been relatively stable over the last 10 years with the exception of the 2008 housing crisis.  

The Myth: People Just Aren't Buying Right Now
The Consumer Price Index (which measures consumer spending) has fallen for 4 consecutive quarters, but it's up +86% from Q1 of 2015, and I bet you were getting orders around this time last year!

Another example, data shows the Consumer Confidence Index continued its slow decline, but what might be more relevant is that it indicates consumer spending will increase YoY by +2.5%!

The Myth: Companies are Firing Employees en Masse
It certainly true that the oil & gas industry layoffs contributed to the increase of involuntary unemployment numbers in Q1 2015 (from 4.9 to 5.0), but the reality is that we've seen unemployment decrease significantly each year since 2009!

There are many other Key Performance Indicators that we can look at that can explain what's happening in the market, like inflation ($100 is actually worth slightly more now than this time last year by the way), retail sales, housing starts (which has gone up significantly each year since 2009), manufacturing, etc.

Ultimately, it's not the data that's important, it's which stats we focus on and how we utilize them that's central to our success. What's more empowering, the idea that "Companies are laying off employees recently" or "Looking for ways to become more efficient"? Perception is reality, it's not delusional optimism or even the Law of Attraction (although it might accidentally be). It's simply embracing beliefs, based on hard data, that compels you to be aggressive and confident when everyone else is yelling, "the sky is falling!" But more importantly, focusing on the positive (and very real) data helps us avoid learned helplessness and address opportunities for positive change.

“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it, and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”
- Marcus Aurelius

Now that we've laid the foundation for BETTER BELIEF SYSTEMS, let's focus on getting creative. How can we win more business? First of all, you must understand that in a hyper-inflated economy, we tend to experience irrational exuberance with spending, it's much easier to get a PO when the cash is flowing. Prying a wallet open during a perceived "down economy" will mean you could potentially work harder for less money. But that's why you'll succeed, because you're willing to do that, where others aren't!

Step 1: Stop obsessing over why your business hasn't grown and start obsessing over how to grow your clients' businesses! Want better answers? Ask better questions! "Why are we failing?" is a bad question, "What can we do to help our clients' succeed?" is better! And don't just ask yourself, ask your clients! Don't accept the It's not you, it's me routine. You need the real info, so ask them to be as harsh as they can be or even wishful thinking. You need to understand the real issues, it's the only way to address the current challenges.

Step 2: Evaluate how your products/services meet the current challenges of your clients/prospects and determine what adjustments are required. The definition of insanity, "Doing the same thing repeatedly, expecting a different result" is true in business. Simple course correction is often required to take advantage of economic climate changes. Did you know that a space shuttle is only on its exact flight path 2% of the time? The rest of the time, it's making small course corrections to account for variables. A complete overhaul of products and services might not be necessary, but knowing that adjustments are is fundamental.

Step 3: Illustrate in clear terms how your products/services is a "no brainer" for now and in the future! Since you understand your clients better than the competition, you know just how your deliverables achieve their short and stretch goals. BUT YOU MUST MAKE IT CLEAR! Being able to present your solution in a way that speaks to your audience in a benefit ?? feature orientation (because you're focused on their needs, not yours) walks the client to a decision that's obvious. At this point, saying "no" would be a non sequitur.   

Without further ado, here's 5 things you can do to help grow your business in a down economy. 

1) Increase pricing flexibility - Maybe you begin to bundle services for discounts or break them out for entry price savings. 

2) Increase payment flexibility - The "pay for it now" mentality is a luxury for companies that have the cash.  Implement installment options or expand your Net Terms program.

3) Expand product offering flexibility - Many companies have shifted from the desire to owning the solution to having access to its benefits. Having a leasing or an on-demand service reduces buyer's remorse anxiety and upfront expenditures. 

4) Be more flexible with evaluations - As companies re-evaluate their expenditures, there will be more due-diligence in their process. Making a "try before you buy" more accessible will go a long way toward conversion!

5) Be more flexible with your targets - We have served a key demographic for our product/service for years, isn't it time to mine a different tract of land? Get flexible on other target markets that are underserved and could benefit from your solution. 

How are you getting flexible this year? I'd love to hear about it! And as always, if you've enjoyed anything here please Like, Share & Follow.

Brandon Bain is a proud father of 3 (twin newborn girls & 3 year old boy) and 

is a graduate of Texas A&M University. Brandon advocates for network security awareness as the Director of Business Development for Endian Americas and helped design the Endian Partner Program, which empowers hundreds of IT professionals to deliver quality security products at a tremendous value. Brandon's opinions do not necessarily reflect those of Endian. 

Other articles written by Brandon include: 

? The Future of Your Privacy
? The Power of Open Source (For Network Security)
? 9 Ways to Generate Revenue With A Hotspot
? There's No Such Thing as Free Wifi
? The 3 Biggest Silent Cost of Secure Connectivity 
? Why You'll Re-evaluate Your Network Access Immediately 
? Think Like a Hacker
? There's no Such Thing as NERC-CIP Compliant Products
? A Radical Idea That Might Save Your Network
? The True Cost of Social Networking For Businesses 
? Cloud Computing Unraveled
? IoT, BYoD..WTH? 5 Things Businesses Must Have to Survive
? Good, Fast, Cheep...Pick 2! The Limits of Products & Services
? Zombie Training For Businesses
? Unique vs. Useful (And which product wins)
? 3 Things Listing My House Taught Me About Sales
? Get to Know Your IT Guy!
? Death of the SCADA Firewall 
? How to Get Away With Underpaying Oil/Gas Employees