Winter, spring, summer and fall, any season can produce extreme weather. Our economy has a natural cycle; unfortunately, many experts advise that a recession may blow in. Managing a business in a recession can present unique challenges and opportunities for business owners and employees.
There have been more than 40 recorded recessions in the United States. Some lasted for months; others lasted for years. The last financial crisis occurred in 2008, but many of us were too young to captain our own ships.
Two Big Waves
Unlike 2008, we have two new points of high pressure:
- Talent is scarce and expensive: despite newsworthy layoffs, unemployment is low, and quality talent is hard to find.
- The global supply chain is still recovering from the impact of the pandemic
Two Lessons
We can look back to see the lessons learned from businesses that successfully weathered the last recession. Business and finance experts determined that successful businesses navigated the previous recession by making two major moves into the wind:
- They committed to the differentiating elements of their strategy, to position themselves to power through uncertain times, not just respond to them.
- They effectively balanced top and bottom-line growth across business conditions. Research shows that focusing only on cost-cutting has historically come at the expense of top-line growth.
How to Steer Your Business
1. Shore up your business
Access the health of your business. Ask yourself and your team these questions:
- Are there inefficiencies regarding your product or service offerings?
- How much talent can we afford right now? How far can we stretch people?
- What resources do you need to maintain or exceed current output?
2. Set a change in course
You may need to realign or restructure staffing, evaluate your products and services mix, and adjust your KPIs and growth targets.
Unlike in 2008, we have digital solutions to differentiate your business. iTelecom can help you identify the best route to maintain your competitive position. For example, you can:
- Automate processes to permanently reduce the cost of doing business.
- Augment and automate activities with technology such as artificial intelligence or IoT to reduce labor costs, shore up production and free up scarce, high-cost talent to focus on value-creating activities.
- Produce more relevant digital products and services to improve customer and employee experience.
Your Lifeboat
Focus on your products, pricing, cost and capital structure, and turn to iTelecom for your digital transformation. We have the solutions you need to drive your competitive position.
