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Will Your Business Survive a Fluctuating Economy?

May 5, 2016 by Ed Becker

pound GBP coin and gold money. Fluctuating graph on red background. Rate of the pound sterling (shallow DOF)

Even if our economy is no longer in recession, it is still fluctuating. Knowing which business sectors survive, or thrive in a fluctuating economy, enables you to ensure your business’ success. Even if your business is not in one of the best sectors, this knowledge can help you set goals or try new ideas that will make it recession-proof.

Here is a top 10 of business sectors that survived and even flourished during the recession.

  1. Home health care
  2. Veterinary services
  3. Thrift stores
  4. Tax accounting
  5. Death care services
  6. Candy
  7. Tattoo parlors
  8. Cosmetics
  9. Movie theaters
  10. Beer, wine & liquor

There is also a list of the fastest growing sectors of business during the upswing of the economy.

  1. Building contractors
  2. Finish contractors
  3. Utility constructions
  4. Computer systems design services
  5. Specialty food stores
  6. Fabricated metal manufacturing
  7. Oilseed & grain farming
  8. Real estate agents and brokers
  9. Architectural and engineering services
  10. Management, technical and scientific consulting services

Don’t get discouraged if your business does not fall into these lists. There are still many businesses that survived and thrived during economic downturns. And there are many things you can plan for and implement that will help you stay stable during market fluctuations.

  • Reduce Costs

Usually it is when business is slow or the economy is in a downturn that businesses look closer at reducing costs. Yes, that is a good practice to keep the bottom line out of the red. But what if you looked at reducing costs when business is good? Or on a regular basis, maybe quarterly?

When you are caught up in the day-to-day running of the business you may not have time to shop around for the most cost-efficient prices, or you may have purchasing personnel so you really do not see the research yourself. It is a great idea to review costs regularly and shop around to find ways to reduce them. You also may find that there are items that you are paying for that you no longer need or could do without.

  • Customer Service

Customer service should be strong and positive all the time. If yours is, that gives you an advantage over competitors. Even when times get hard, customers will stay loyal to brands where they feel connected and treated well.

When times are good take the time to fully develop connections with customers. Perfect your ideal customer personas, increase your social media interactions and think about how you would want to be treated as a customer. Cultivating current customers to maintain business is more cost effective than getting new customers, especially during slower times.

  • Improved Products

Don’t always try to reinvent the wheel. Putting out new products does not mean you have to come up with a brand new idea from scratch. Look at things around you that you use regularly and think about ways to improve them. Revamping an existing product is much cheaper and faster to market than starting from scratch.

By improving on an existing idea, there is already a customer base. Much of the initial marketing is already in place, you would just market to the same target who already is using the old version.

When business is good is when you want to think about ways to protect your business from fluctuations in the market and economy. The ideas above are just a few to get you started. There are many other ways you can brainstorm that will keep you afloat in slower times.

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