Does life in business look dismal these days? Do you sometimes think, “Well, it looks as if everything has hit bottom; maybe we can make it out of this mess” only to have your business take another turn for the worse?

Just because everyone else seems to be heading for the pits doesn’t mean you have to! Chances are you have good products and great workers, and if you can only make it past this challenge, you can recover. Your real question is: “What should we do to survive until things pick up, or should I consider quitting now and starting up again when things look better?”

Quitting now will put your competitors in the driver's seat. Actually, it will probably put your competitor in the #1 position, and when things pick up again, and you once again open your doors, you might find your clients and customers asking, "Where were you when the going got tough?" Rather than quitting, you might consider a company-wide campaign of survival. Here are a few strategies you might use.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You
Start thanking your customer for the business they give you. Every memo, letter, phone call, and in-person visit is a chance to say, "Thank you for doing business with us." If you expect to maintain your business, begin by letting your customer know you really appreciate their business. Actually, you should have been doing this from the start, but complacency probably set in at some point and you quit. Customers can scent a ‘buyer’s market’, and if you get defensive about things, they will develop ‘Elephant Memories’; they’ll never forget.

It’s Service, Service, Service
Begin doing what you’ve given lip-service to these past years. Begin a massive campaign to focus attention on your customer. Find out what he or she wants or needs, and provide it faster, better, and less expensively than any of your competition. Now is the time for you to make personal visits to each major customer, letting them know you are here for the duration of the times, and you wish to provide goods and services to them with service as your motto. Then do it! Let your customer know you are in good shape, streamlined, well focused, goal oriented, and are ready and willing to do aggressive business. Now is not the time to draw back or be timid, nervous or cautious, now is the time to make an aggressive positive image. Your customers will respond to this dynamic image by shifting business from those who they feel are on a failure path to your dynamic and responsive company.

Zip Your Purse
If you think times are tough for you, watch what happens to your suppliers! Every salesperson calling on you from now on will be asking the leading question, "Would you like to save money during these times?" A "Yes" answer will most likely open the possibility of you spending money, not saving it. Maybe you could save money, but couch your answer in these terms. “Yes, if you can prove your claim and are willing to guarantee the savings in writing.” (This is a good tactic for you to take in talking with your customers, but be prepared to back it up!)

Another strategy might be to arrange with your suppliers to pay trade bills more quickly for substantial discount terms. Their cash flow will also be under fire, and if you pay promptly, you may be able to obtain better terms than ever before. Ask if they would act as your second ‘warehouse’ if you pay cash or near cash terms for the products you need. This one effort could allow your suppliers to serve as your second warehouse, provide fast delivery for your normally slow-moving inventory items, and result in dramatically reducing your inventory costs.

Learn To Say, "No."
If you feel you cannot accomplish a job in the given time frame or finish it for sum ‘X’, say, "No." Better yet, enlist your customer in your plans … you never know … if the job is important enough they may be willing to pay extra, even during hard times!

Set New Goals
Review everything you do, and make a new list of all tasks (not just survival tasks) that need to be accomplished. List everything needing attention in the next quarter, month, week, and day. Prioritize your tasks. Keep the list in front of you at all times and update it regularly. Focus your energy and talent on what is important. Don’t spend your time, money and energy on unnecessary tasks. Your ability to identify and solve problems is one of the main reasons you are in business; so solve them!

Finish The Job
Put a closure on the work you perform. A perfect world doesn't exist, and neither does a perfect task completion. Do your absolute best, but don't drag out a completion date for, ". . . just one more thing."

Keep The Faith
With customer service as a key to survival, good employees become more important than ever. Define acceptable employee behavior, especially customer interaction behavior, reward those achieving the goals, and dismiss those not conforming. Don't hire anyone who is just looking for a job, they're probably marginal or unsatisfactory workers who have been dismissed by other firms; you want the go-getters and the winners, not the whiners. Most of all, face the facts, then do something to change them in a positive way! It’s YOUR business; make it work!

(NOTE TO EDITORS: PLEASE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING.) Paul Tulenko is a Small Business Success Consultant based in New Mexico. Additional tips and suggestions are available at www.tulenko.com or call (toll-free) 1-866-TULENKO.