Small Business

Small Business 2009 Motto? What Doesn’t Kill Us…

This may be the year everyone wants to forget. Layoffs ruled, credit cut off our breath, and small businesses couldn’t catch a break. While the colossal banks on Wall Street got a bailout, many small businesses couldn’t get a loan.

Even so, the tough times can make us stronger — or at least point out what we might not want to do again. Here’s a look back at the year that was and what we learned:

You don’t need your office as much as you once thought you did. If the overhead is overwhelming—ditch it. Michael M., a small business owner in New Jersey, went virtual: Everyone worked from home, and the overhead costs were limited to warehouse space for his products.

You know what you know. So, the customers are spending less. Or there are fewer of them. That doesn’t mean you’re not good at what you do—it means the market isn’t good at what it’s supposed to do to boost your business. So if the market changes, you can change, too. Amy Lechelt-Basta, a clothing store owner near Chicago, closed her store and redirected her expertise and resources in a new way: she advises people on their wardrobes.

Customer psychology is everything. One of the big debates earlier this year was over pricing strategies: lower them as a way to keep sales going; or hold or raise them, because raising them from a lower point later on would be so much more work. Understanding who will pay what became your focus. You looked at pricing at a point when it really mattered, and you learned more about it than you ever had before.

There’s no time like the present. Sure, it hasn’t been the best time to hire, but there were plenty of good candidates out there. Just as some of those folks were “pre-fired,” you can also anticipate, by “pre-poaching.” If you played things right, you used this time to get to know strong future candidates and keep them in your orbit. When conditions clear up, you’ll know exactly who can help drive your business to further success.

You learned a lot about the end. At some point, you considered closing up shop and getting out of the business. Many of you did (bankruptcies and business closings were way up this year), no doubt attempting to sell first. Going through a business closing or sale holds a wealth of lessons, including getting your house in order, understanding your worth, and the fact that it ain’t over till it’s over: if you don’t keep working on your business to the very end, why should anyone else?

That nothing is certain—including your key client contact. The sharp sickle of layoffs spared few companies and some of your best business sources may have been let go. So you did the tough work of rebuilding relationships with that company, and learned a little about living with uncertainty.

Good lessons to have—too bad they came at such a cost. Here’s to a stronger 2010.

Tags: 2009, Small Business