Thriving Through the Downturn: Business Cycle

This blog post is part of a series titled Thriving Though the Downturn: Eleven Strategies that will make your Company Boom.

Remember that these business cycles have been repeated many times in the past several decades. We don’t know when the current downturn will hit the bottom, how long before growth starts, and how fast markets will grow once they have recovered. If this downturn follows previous ones, markets will recover and they will start growing. While you need to survive through the downturn, make sure that your planning window includes the hoped for return of the good times. Entrepreneurs I spoke with for this article say that the good times will return.

In the short term, you do need to manage through the short term adjustments, especially cash (which we cover in Cash Is King). It will take hyper focus on customers and revenue, along with careful management of expenses. Gordon Smythe of Propel Partners says “Running out of cash is the only way that companies go out of business.”

You are not the only one impacted by the changing market landscape. Your suppliers, partners, competitors, and especially your customers are also being impacted by lowering GDP and spending. When you are planning on future corporate directions, keep this in mind. There may be an equal set of opportunities to go along with the challenges of the market changes.

All of these impacts and all of the changes you instigate will take time. Probably more time than you realize. Be realistic about your timelines and how hard it will be to make changes. Monitor your progress carefully (weekly even) to see if you are staying on track.