Monday, May 28, 2012

How To Survive In A Tough Economic Climate

Lowering your SP is perhaps one way out of the economic crisis but more important is reinventing yourself - your company, your product, your areas of operations ... as people across the globe are equally looking forward to increase business including China and India.

Some of the ways which can be explored is -

1. Promoting newer product use - re-positioning your product/services

2. Exploring newer geographical areas of marketing and drastically reduce your inventories

3. Cross branding

4. Innovative sales promotions

5.Turning your cost centers into profit centers - e.g. if you have excess production capacities or R&D capacities or test beds ..... you can take up such opportunities from across the world from different companies.

6. Collaborate in countries where your products or services are not

7. Increase your sales network - in your country and abroad.

Affordability in my mind is in availability of funds.

Some long range thinking is in order here, not short term bottom line thinking. Most of the big boys and many, many of the small ones are acutely aware of this factor or will become acutely aware when their funding goes dry.

In past periods I have witnessed this type over the last 40 years, those companies that diversify (innovate and keep a long view of requirements) as well as team and develop a marketing approach that is hard hitting in the areas of "Bang for the Buck" (efficiency, talent utilization and resource management) survive.

Those that send a bill for everything they want paid and show up with an army of workers with a cost plus mentality, burn through and run out of funding, lose competitions on overhead and G&A issues and go out of business.

The little guy with the "Big Guy" talent has an advantage but must cover his back as the larger corporations become squeezed and go for the smaller pieces of the action.