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Ready to Grow Again?

Written by: Gary Silverman

Article Overview: As I have predicted in a number of my previous articles, prosperity is right around the corner, and for some of you it may already be here. I have been preaching that business needed to prepare themselves for the rebound and if you haven’t it isn’t too late. The bad news came with a big sucking sound. Like the aftermath of a devastating tornado many of you have poked your head out from the rubble only to find yourself alive and somewhat well.

Ready to Grow Again?

If you haven’t restructured your staff (size as well as quality), redefined job responsibilities, analyzed the competition, cut expenses, identified new business opportunities within your infrastructure, and established a more aggressive marketing and prospecting plan you better get after it. Much of your competition didn’t survive this melee. That means greater market share for those who survived but you need to get in line for your share.

We’ve all heard about Chrysler and GM cutting thousands of dealers while positioning the remainder for less pain until business improves and huge profit opportunities once it does. Surviving Mortgage Bankers have seen a run to refinancing and are having a hard time processing the paperwork because of the demand. Even residential real estate is rebounding in some markets and many new sub-divisions have nothing but empty lots available as the homes have been scooped up. There’s good news on Wall Street and the commodities markets. These are future predictors. When paired with the Fed’s report that second half GDP is poised to grow and consumer confidence making a monumental jump in April...GET READY!

Your new and current customers will be expecting a different experience now. They have been forever effected by the economic trauma they endured. Prices will have to be more competitive, customer service expectations will be greater, products and packaging will need to be more cutting edge and make a better value statement, and the attitudes of all of your staff who comes in contact with a customer have to be happy and helpful. Kick sloppy and disinterested to the curb, it has no place in the “new economy”. Be prepared to defend against competition undercutting your prices with your long term clients, you are vulnerable, but so is your competition. The consumer expects the prices of everything to go down 20% and they are constantly fed proof that everything is cheaper. Deflation mandates that businesses become and stay “lean and mean”. Make the tough choices, after all it was you, the business owner, who absorbed most of the hit of the downturn while protecting your staff and vendors. Now it’s your turn to be paid back.

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Article Tags: aggressive marketing, commodities, consumer confidence, customer service expectations, future predictors, gdp, hard time, market share, melee, mortgage bankers, new business opportunities, paperwork, profit opportunities, refinancing, remainder, residential real estate, rsquo, span style, staff size, wall street



Related Forum Posts
Re: My 3 best business books - 1. Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill 2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey 3. Permission Marketing - Seth Godin Think and Grow Rich seems more powerful each time I read it or dip into it. The 7 Habits not only offers some very effective ways to organize your life (which I have yet to master!), but also some great quotations and thought provoking statements including this by Nazi concentration camp survivor, Viktor Frankl: [i:2naxzsom]Between stimulus and response, man has the freedom to choose.[/i:2naxzsom] Seth Godin's Permission Marketing is a good read for anybody seeking to understand how to approach doing business on the Internet in the right way with regard to winning people's trust.
How can I best help you? - I'm looking forward to sharing my ideas and insights here about taking your business to the next level. Before I jump in, I'd love to find out what would be most helpful to you. So, I'd appreciate hearing your responses to: How can I best help you to take your business to the next level? What are you struggling with at the moment? What would you most like to learn? and I'll do my best in responding to you Ready, get set, go . . . Wendy
Re: My 3 best business books - It seems that Napoleon Hill works help a lot of business men. He had done a really good job. I bought Think and Grow Rich many times.
Think and Grow Rich - Hi Moira, What a great post! I completely agree with it and it really is too easy to underestimate those 3 points but once we learn to use them the sky is the limit. I am currently reading Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill. Have you read that book?
Re: 2010 - Big goals or scaled back? - I'm not in his league but I'm with Trent on this one. I have just pulled Think And Grow Rich off my shelf for this quotation: ** [i:3najfws9]The "depression" was a blessing in disguise. It reduced the whole world to a new starting point that gives every one a new opportunity. [/i:3najfws9]


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