There is no shortage of  reason why your business might be slow right now – it could be the macroeconomic environment, the nature of your business, the current part of your particular business cycle, or a lot of other causes. Knowing the root cause of slowdown is important but also you can use these tips to turn these slow times into sources of innovation and profit. These tips are battle-tested, and helped work my companies out of the worst recession.

Tip #1: Accessibility 24×7

Closing because business is slow is like fasting because you’re hungry – it’s counter intuitive. Don’t ever fall into this trap. I saw it all the time with other businesses around me. You’ve got to be in your business, with the lights on, finding the next opportunity that will define your future. It just so happens that slow times are the best times to find these opportunities. Accessibility is one of the most important aspect of any business. You have to be present every time when a customer needs your product or service. Now you will say I can not be present every time a person comes to my shop or business location. Then I ll say why not have a fallback medium like phone number or even better an website. These days you can sell products/services/subscriptions etc online via eCommerce website and eCommerce is not just for selling to distant customers it can be used to utilize the local customer. Local customers are even better targets. Because they are local, you can make better relation with them for reoccurring sales. Why spent a lot of money on new customers when you have a stable business with your local customers. For this you need a platform which has power of online presence and also offline presence.

Tip #2: Reach out to old contacts

Talk to anyone and everyone you haven’t spoken to in a while: media contacts, old clients, and vendors even.  You’ve got lots of time on your hands, and networking is one of the more difficult things to do when you’re busy.  Contacting people, understanding their problems and making a solution is best you can do in slow times and also you can get some amazing new opportunities that could be transformed into entire businesses at its best.  It can often lead to some projects that can help pay the bills – maybe not exactly the work you’re looking for, but you’ll learn the needs and wants of your contacts, and might be able to generate some cash flow.

Tip #3: Cut every expense possible, including yourself.

If business isn’t great, you’ve got to stop the bleeding.  Be judicious with your cuts – I once saw a business owner turn the lights off in his office to “save electricity” while he was working.  Don’t do this.  You look desperate, closed, and most importantly, who can work with the lights off?  But you’ve got to trim things down: cleaning staff, memberships, fringe benefits, and even your take-home salary.  Chances are, you’re the business’s biggest expense, so think about how low you can go to save your business.  Do you want that paycheck for 3 more months, or 15 more years?

Tip #4: Expand your role and add value to your company.

There are a lot of things you can do that will add value to your company immediately and might give you your next idea – however, a lot of these things are not glorious, and people will shrug them off as banal. They can do so at their own peril. A true business person knows all the aspect of his business. If I’ve founded a company I know how to sales, I know how my product works, I know how to convert a lead, In tough times you need to understand the requirement of your company and you have to be ready to do any thing it requires.

No matter what is causing it, a slowdown period at your business is either a chance to go home early, or an opportunity to explore new possibilities and projects at your business that you wouldn’t ordinarily have time to do. You stand a better chance of staying in business by adopting the latter attitude.  Slow days at work simply mean you have an excess of time on your hands – but time is a valuable resource and something most business owners would kill to have more of – use it wisely, and see these days as a huge opportunity.  Good luck!

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