Tools for Tough Times
To say that times are tough for small business is an understatement. Reduced credit, wary customers, and longer payment cycles are causing many small business owners to lose sleep. But the good news is your small business is in a group likely to start the recovery. It is your persistence, innovation, and entrepreneurial mindset that will turn the economy around.
To your left are shortcuts to resources within the Tools for Business that can help you during this difficult period. A brief description of each is below.
8 Marketing Tips for Recession Stressed Entrepreneurs is a free workshop produced by the FAMEE Foundation, a non-profit which educates small businesses in effective marketing. After a quick, free enrollment, you will receive an email for eight days with a link to a short video that will give practical tips on how to operate during this recession.
Be sure to use the free Cash flow calculator, provided by BizPlans.com where you can quickly see how changing your inventory, collections, payable schedule, and pricing will affect your cash flow. Managing cash flow is the key to surviving tough economic times.
This is the time to strengthen relationships with your best customers. You can quickly send a professional appreciation card to your good customers using the link to the US Postal Service's Cardstore. There are available templates to use, no set up fee, and no minimum orders, with the cost per card at under $1.
You can also use the free Customer survey tool. You can set up a 10 question survey in minutes, and put a link to the survey on all your customer emails.
Use the website grader to optimize your website for the highest web traffic.
Surviving tough economic times often requires improving selling skills. Go to our online bookstore and review the sales training books, such as Consultative Sales Power, by Karen Mantyla. This workbook is designed to be "read with a pencil" and is a practical way to increase sales and improve customer loyalty.
You might also consider taking an online classes on professional selling. There are free and low cost classes to choose from.
There are many other tools on this website that can assist you. We recommend that you spend time looking through each of the topics to your right.
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