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Recession-Proof Tactics Help Give Your Organization or Business a Competitive Advantage
Whether during times of recession or recovery, your customers need to be aware of what added values your company provides them – extras that save them money, time, and frustration. Businesses must work on creating competitive advantage for themselves to stand out from their competition.
Staying on top of productivity and cash flow in combination with avoiding bold decisions and risks are proactive business practices. During times of financial strain, one of the biggest mistakes a business can make is to take actions that stem from denial or panic.
Recession-proofing tactics for businesses include decreasing inventory, eliminating the bottom 20% that isn’t moving. Lose the losers, whether it’s products or divisions that haven’t been profitable. When you clearly define your company’s competitive advantages, you avoid commodity status. As a result, margins remain strong.
A perfect example of these strategies happened earlier this month. Galliford Try PLC in London is planning to raise over 125 British pounds to fund its expansion strategy to recover from a fiscal-year pretax loss. As a construction company, Galliford plans to use the funds to acquire land and develop homes in an affordable market. Over time they will increase their share of those markets as they improve.
Encouraged by a steady housing market improvement, Galliford Try decided to continue its growth strategy in house building. Over the next year and a half, the funds raised are to be spent taking advantage of current housing prices. Though competition would increase with other companies, those companies would be limited because of financial strain.
The company’s big decision was to decrease employees to a four-day workweek instead of having layoffs. This puts the company at a competitive advantage, allowing them to retain employees and expand when the economy picks up. Rather than borrowing money and going into debt, the company’s opting to raise funds and cut hours optimized their strategy and long-term potential for success.
Smart Advantage, Inc. is a consulting, training, and education-based company that works with businesses to uncover and tout their Competitive Advantages. If your company’s message is devoid of Competitive
Advantages, then you are likely leaving sales on the table.
