Adapting my plans to survive the recession

The challenge

Four of my clients went bust in the last 10 months, and three more were in trouble. First and foremost I had to take care of the loss of income for my company. But then I had to find other sources of revenue and ways of cutting costs to keep as many of my other clients as possible.

The solution

I took several different measures to boost revenue and save where I could. I started subcontracting staff rather than employing them, meaning I only had to pay for work as and when I really needed it. I made my services available to any business or individual for any request, rather than the more niche areas I used to stick to. Though it may sound counterproductive, I also dropped my rates. This encouraged more clients to use me - I was still producing work at the same quality of work.

I made my payment terms more favourable too, to further encourage people to use my services rather than a competitor's. I was of course very careful to keep a constant eye on my cash flow and make sure it was never affected.

I also started working for my clients remotely, rather than travelling to them. This saved travel costs and gave me more free time to work on other projects, so creating more revenue opportunities.

Key lesson

Keep your costs under control and find new ways of increasing your income. It may not seem like it, but think outside the box and  be flexible and you'll find a way.

Top tip

The business that's flexible, cost-efficient and adaptable has better chances of surviving a recession or other crisis situations.

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