The Working World

Plateauing is the New Climbing

Let’s face it. While there are some bright spots in the economy (spam, running shoes, gardening seeds, tanning products), most businesses are focused on just covering costs and keeping their business operational, or at least in a holding pattern until the economy works itself out.

To that end, Beth Schoenfeldt, co-founder and chief encouragement officer of Collective-E, which bills itself as an entrepreneur agency, offers these tips for keeping your business healthy through this bumpy ride. The upshot: use this time to hunker down and refocus:

–Cut costs.  This is the year to get smarter with your business and trim the fat.  Now is the time to negotiate everything from your rent to your legal services.  Any smart cost cutting measures will increase the bottom line, and will help you in the long run when the economy turns around.

–Increase productivity.  Just because you are cutting costs, doesn’t mean you can’t increase productivity. This might include outsourcing, investing in new technologies and even working from home to save travel time and money in overhead.

–Creativity.  Those with the most creative marketing, product ideas, distribution and pricing strategies have a better chance of going flat.  Collective-E members have been creating new, lower price point products, offering workshops, consulting and coaching packages and even selling their products at street fairs.

–Getting social.  From social media to joining entrepreneurial communities like Collective-E, relationships are more important than ever in building a business.   Think about it, if you have less money to spend, you are going to spend it where it makes you feel the best or from a very strong referral from a trusted source.

Collective-E is a great resource for entrepreneurs, with tips on improving SEO, PR, networking with others, promoting your business and other good stuff for entrepreneurs.

Tags: entrepreneurs, Small Business