Cheri S. Hill

Operating a business entails maintaining control over your operation every step of the way, particularly in tough times. Now is the time to step back, rethink and review all sectors of your operation. Here are many suggestions to help your business not only survive but grow:

1. Create or update your business plan. If you have not prepared a business plan, delay no further. A written, clearly thought-out business plan is critical when the business owner must choose where to grow and where to contract the business.

2. Conserve cash (be prepared for revenue decreases).

3. Focus on your balance sheet. Make sure you are managing your cash flow well.

4. Consider zero-base budgeting which means going back to a zero starting point and questioning every expenditure and every staff position to see whether it should be continued or eliminated for the coming budget period. The decisive question is this: If we were starting our present business today with limited

funds, would we consider this expense necessary and productive?

5. Review discretionary spending items. Employ labor and time-saving technology to reduce business costs. Increase the utilization of Internet-based technology that can save on travel, training, administration and operations costs.

6. Cut unnecessary costs. Look at all those automatic deductions hitting your bank and credit card accounts

each month such as subscriptions and membership fees.

7. Protect your assets. (Ask yourself, "What if I lost....?") Think security and safety.

8. Convert excess, obsolete, and slow-moving inventory items into cash. Return excess and slow-moving items back to the suppliers. Hold a close-out or inventory reduction Sale. Whatever is left, consider a tax deductible charitable contribution.

9. Accelerate collections (do everything to minimize receivables).

10. Review your agreements with suppliers. Maybe you don't have to pay in 30 days but can pay in 45 days instead without late fees.

11. Meet with your landlord. Perhaps they can extend the term at a reduced cost. Also, look at how you are utilizing your space. If you have rooms full of filing cabinets (consider online file storage), spaces filled with obsolete or unused office supplies (donate to the crayons to computers warehouse), broken or unused computers and equipment (donate to new2you computers, a division of Disability Resources), seriously do a major spring cleaning. This will allow you to evaluate how much space you actually need. What you may find is that you can reduce your office space or better yet, utilize those areas for new hires that will actually produce income!

12. Keep your personal credit rating high, since business borrowing often depends on personal credit in the small business universe.

13. Lenders. Renegotiate loans for better terms.

14. You must constantly seek to pay minimum taxes (legally).

15. Barter and swap for goods and services instead of using cash.

16. You must apply a fail-safe range of management checkpoints and controls and more importantly, manage your company for constant mistake avoidance.

17. Take a hard look at your company's culture (if you don't think you have one - you do!). Instead of leaving it to grow on its own, you can nurture it into something that will breed loyalty and motivation. Creating a strong culture one of fun, sharing, collaboration and connection can be done.

18. Spend on hiring. It's easier to invest training time for new hires during slower growth periods and with lots of layoffs there is a tremendous amount of talent available.

19. Build a powerful sales force. Recognize that for every 10 sales people you hire only one or two will be great. Poor sales people are no more than costs of doing business. You need to cut them and upgrade your force.

20. Consider outsourcing administrative responsibilities to virtual assistants (eliminates costs related to providing employee benefits and paying taxes, purchasing furniture and equipment; allows you to concentrate on responsibilities that generate income instead of time consuming back office administration).

22.You must continue to get the word out about your business. It's more critical now that you maintain or even begin marketing and advertising campaigns, rather than dropping those expenditures, which is likely what your competitors will do. At all costs you want to avoid hearing the following statement: "I didn't know you were still in business."

23. Build strategic alliances, joint ventures, and affiliate relationships with other businesses that have similar target markets to gain more exposure for your products and services.

24. Build a network of powerful relationships. Connect to give; don't connect to get.

21. Seek the help of outside advisors (CPA, attorney, business consultants). They offer you objectivity and can provide you with professional advice and guidance.

25. Introduce new offerings to expand your area of operation. Consider launching a new product or service. Diversify into those areas that fit and supplement your existing business. Think about how you can add somebody else's product even a competitor's product to your business and make more money than you are making on your own.

26. Stay on top of what your competitors are doing so you can maintain a competitive advantage.

27. Be known for delivering great products and services. (This leads to referrals).

28. Stand out by offering an astonishing guarantee, one so amazing that others in your industry would balk at offering it.

29. Add value, not price. Continuously adding value to your products and services makes you look rich and attractive to your customers and prospects. Adding price without value makes you look cheap.

30. To keep from losing business, keep in close touch with your existing customers. (In person, newsletters, phone calls, direct mail, webinars, etc.) You must develop a strategy that helps your customers grow, improve, or profit.

31. Provide post-purchase reassurance. It's important to get in touch with your customer after they have received your product or service to see how it's going. This will allay any "buyer's remorse." Plus, it gives you the opportunity to resell, upsell, or cross-sell additional products and services. (Your best prospects are your existing customers).

32. Develop a written client referral program (be sure to tell your clients that you have one). If you refer someone and they become a client we will pay you $$$. Great for service businesses.

33.Testimonials ... Testimonials ... Testimonials. Make sure you use them in all of your advertising and marketing campaigns.

34. One of the most powerful techniques you can use is free publicity. No cost, just the time and effort required to attract attention to your business.

35. Look to resource organizations such as the Nevada Small Business Development Center, entrepreneur organizations (Vistage), SCORE, Nevada Microenterprise Initiative, etc.

36. Don't waste time. Separate all of your activities into two categories: Those that add value to your business and those that don't. (Shopping for a more competitive insurance policy adds value while standing in line at the post office does not.)

37. Improve your own skill sets. Consider additional training, seminars, industry conferences, going back to school. Be sure to talk to industry experts at any event you attend.

38. Create what you see for yourself. Meet your own sales goals, provide your own growth incentives, and keep abreast of the markets so you can remain on the cutting edge.

39. Forget about last year.

40. Focus on what you can control.

41. Communicate with your staff, vendors, bankers etc. about the true status of your company. Only when people know the truth can they offer help or suggestions.

42. Have perseverance!

43. Think positive. Have faith. Stay focused!

Here's where you earn your pay. Your commitment to the survival of the whole business exceeds your commitment to any single individual or group. Your judgment comes from experience. It may not always be fun or easy, but at times, survival depends on your decisions and your actions. Make the best decisions you can and don't hesitate to change them if you find you're wrong. After you go through several downturns or changes in your market, you will have had your trial by fire and will be a confident and capable manager.

Cheri S. Hill is president and chief executive officer of Sage International, Inc. in Reno, NV. Contact her at cheri@sageintl.com or 786-5515.