Business Solutions
Business prosperity and recession are part of the game but are not experienced together because these are opposite extremes. Huge financial, trading and manufacturing organizations are as a rule more sustainable to market adverse changes because of their built-in reserves, credit lines and market spread / sales network. Business never recedes on all sectors losing all customers at once. It is a steady process.
Photo by FRANCESCO CARTA
The small business has small exposure and fewer clientages with limited reserve options. So these face recession steeply are more vulnerable to market changes. These have to make more efforts to make room for themselves in good times and need even greater efforts to survive recession.
There are still opportunity gaps that stay even during recession. Most are affected and all face problems. Those who do not have the capacity or alternate options are eliminated, providing room for others. So keep your grip firm on finances and technology tools to stay in business. The business options can be guessed, or come from colleagues, good customers’ relationships and the useful internet.
The big giant companies dealing with information technology and software can prove helpful as they support small business. Some of them provide free support, services and solutions for their business uplift. The IT based three companies have helped uncountable small business owners to succeed. Their support services free for the troubled.
1. QuickBooks – Free Financial Software
They offered the world’s best small business software. They understood small budget needs, ease of use and with necessary feature already loaded for instant start. The QuickBooks simple start free edition 2009, needing no formalities to access Intel Business Exchange Software Store for small business. This software is not ‘Trial’ based but rather permanent and provides you:
- Track sales, taxes, and customer payments etc. upto 20 contracts.
- Prints estimates and invoices, financial reports.
- Facilitates payroll and taxes.
- Data / information import from Excel.
This free assistance expects you to grow and upgrade using their powerful products. Simple start version organizes your business with Zero finances.
2. Google’s Applications Free Online
Google started as a search engine for unlimited information on almost every topic you can think of. Now transformed into an Internet Giant developing a multi-faceted tool that can help the small business grow fast.
Google Application helps to expand your resources for quick access to information without joining attachments. Microsoft Office will help use Google Docs to share files with others for joint editing as the other also view the same file / files. When you finish your reference with your group you either keep the file in Google Docs or export it to original formats.
Google local Business Centre (LBC) provides a free tool service to access information:
- Impressions: This shows the times your business listing appeared on Google.com or Google Map Search.
- Actions: This show from frequent people visited your site or requested driving directions to your business.
- Queries or Keywords: This show what Keywords or phrases led customers to your listing sought your contact.
Google is extending another free service to publish your website and private – labeled email tools to your users.
3. Free Online Sales and Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
San Francisco based CRM. ASP, INC., a web based customer relationship management software solutions and sales automation. This free CRM is ideal tool for small business lead tracking and contact management. They cater over 1’00’000 customers providing CRM services. A small customer spread enables quick sales, lead tracks and manage email campaigns.
The Small Business Survived strategies must attend to other business that are not Information Technology Oriented too. The survival motto followed by some is to reduce profit grow and succeed. This is easy and possible in small setups. With this strategy in mind you would need to study following remedies.
Economics
The basic idea is to reduce expenses to barest necessity. Reduce unnecessary trips by staff and pool the errands to be performed. Each employ would have some spare time so let him assist someone else. You can handle your desk work with additional compiling and filing. This saves man hours. Ensure customer follow up by frequent calls and emails and less visits.
Similarly by a little pondering, more saving venues can be detected.
Green Strategy will reduce your costs. Use energy saves as far as possible. When buying stationary and other office usable prefer cheaper recycled products, like paper, printer inks in refilled cartridges and so on. The computers can be turned off in idle time and when leaving office. This alone saves about 50% power used by each machine. Laptops use 90% less energy than ordinary desktop computers.
Advertising
In recession the natural tendency is to reduce adds to cut costs. This could be a wrong strategy. All the other affected one also reducing adds. This creates a vacuum and contract gap with your customers. If you can manage you can avail reduced rate adds to stay in touch. You can reduce add size or advertise through cheap or free social working websites. Continuity in odd times shows stability.
Internet And Website
The rising fuel costs has made travelling unmanageable. The Internet provides the alternative which is handy to both seller and buyers. Creative and exciting websites will promote your business effectively. It saves time both ways. The search engines can direct your customers to your website. Do not cut promotional items in recession as these products promote stableness.
Government Contracting
Government system work on set patterns. They do not overstock except some reserve. The demands are generated on consumption basis. Whether recession or not their buying continues no stop. All you have to do is register and stay in touch. Enquiries and supply opportunities will start flowing.
