Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Stop Advertising in this Economy and your business will dry up

By Clint Steiner

Recession impacts everybody. From the small business owner to wealthy business moguls, no one is unaffected in a recession. People begin to shift from eating in restaurants to preparing more meals at home, and start tightening their purse strings as much as possible. Companies begin to scale back their operations, and even let go of employees. The question on many small business owners' minds is " how can I capture market share and keep my business going during difficult economic times?

One of the most important things to remember is that you need to understand your customers' needs. Customers still need to make purchases during a recession. But, consumers facing tough economic circumstances tend to avoid impulse purchases. They take their time, research, and shop around for the best deals. So how can you stay competitive and keep your customers coming back?

Here are a few small business ideas which can help you to actually grow in recession:

Advertise: Cutting back on an advertising budget is a crucial mistake made by many small business owners. This is not the budget item to cut; scaling back or eliminating advertising will likely result in a deep loss of your market share.

Customer loyalty: Fostering customer loyalty is even more important during a recession. To do this, you must understand and meet your customers' needs. Customers who feel appreciated will keep coming back time and time again.

Surveys and feedbacks: Customer feed back can help you to know how your customers are faring in recession. This will help you to get products and services which can address their needs and also increase loyalty.

Have a good business plan: Planning is one of the most important ways to manage resources in a recession. You'll need to run a well-oiled machine in order to keep costs low and increase your business during a recession. You can't do this without a clear business plan.

Locality specialist: With gas prices on the rise, many customers are shopping closer to home instead of venturing out to large shopping centers. Use advertising flyers and other tools to let customers know you're out there.

Discounts: Recession makes every one look for discounts and great offers. Hence its a great small business idea to offer customers discounts in every way you can. Be sure to advertise the discounts in the neighborhood.

Offer home delivery and dial up services: Customers these days don't want to spend free time shopping for every day necessities. Offering convenience to your customers in the form of home delivery and dial up services will entice more customers to your business.

Offer excellent promotional deals: Even though people tighten their belts in a recession, everybody treats themselves to a splurge every once in a while. By using tantalizing promotional offers and deals, you'll attract new customers.

These small business tools can help you grow your business, even in a recession. You might even consider going global by creating a small business website to attract customers from around the world. Put these small business ideas to work and watch as your business grows! - 15246

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