The drumbeats are getting louder and louder.
Many small business owners are enduring excruciating, economic pain during this current recession.
Like the 2008-2009 recession, the real estate and mortgage industries cut jobs as recently reported in this September 2022 article. Some people will say "it's just real estate agents and loan officers losing work because of mortgage interest rates increasing by 100%".
It is acknowledged that 2008-2009 real estate and mortgage crash was due to bad loan originations and inflated home prices. Well, home price appreciation did happen over a four-year period. So, half of the 2008-2009 components are present in 2022.
Commercial real estate concerns are also causes to impact the economy, as reported in this Deloitte article.
The one thing I remember from Economics classes was businesses need a 2-3 year window to make business practice changes. But business owners are facing changes with no time to plan.
Why am I writing this article and producing this podcast episode?
The one component small business owners have more control than inflation, real estate values dropping, price increases and other factors is finding more clients.
Perhaps, finding more clients means increasing revenue. Or, maybe finding more clients stabilizes revenue to keep the doors open.
During the 1979 recession, I was too young to witness or experience the negative impacts on small business owners dealing with 18-21% interest rates. But, my own experience tells me as small business owner with very low overhead, other small businesses may be having difficulty finding clients with the ability to pay thousands of dollars for legal, accounting, dentistry or elective plastic surgery services.
From college Economics classes, businesses in crisis, with little time to make adjustments, focus on the path of least resistance. Meaning, company owners are more likely to consider reducing expenses than increasing revenues. And, business owners: please do not rush to reduce your prices!
The NOW drum is saying how long can the business survive if revenue is shrinking, month after month?
The WHO drum is saying which businesses will come out of this high inflation and poor economic cycle looking like a champ while other businesses are getting slaughtered?
The WHAT drum is saying WHAT can you do as a business owner to affordably and predictably add new clients?
The WHO is your business. The NOW is sooner rather than later. And, the WHAT is 321 Biz Development...the only company with the skills to improve sales productivity and sales performance during these difficult economic and political times.
Thanks for reading this article.
Rick Nappier, President
321 Biz Development
(855) 585-2500