By Henry Brown
Having all your teams working smoothly and working well together is essential to the long-term success of your small business.
All businesses go through periods of relative difficulty; this is just a normal part of the process of running any business. But when things start to look particularly bad, what can you do to ensure that you get out of the slump again? Fortunately, solutions usually at hand – provided that you know where to look for them. Look to a few key and core teams for help in improving your business’ performance. Sometimes this might be because they were the cause of the problem, and sometimes it’s just that they have the tools to fix it. Either way, opening lines of communication is essential, as is making sure the teams are working well together to find solutions.
Let’s have a look at which teams to look at closely if things aren’t running well.
Marketing
No matter what the cause of your business problems, you can be sure that your marketing team, whether internal or external, is always going to have a way to fix it. The great thing about marketing is that, when it’s done well, it can turn around a whole business in no time. This means that you can turn to them no matter what, and expect them to bring in some more customers to help save the business. If the problem has sprung from the marketing, you should encourage them to get their heads together and see what can be done. Perhaps re-branding is on the cards, or maybe a new campaign is in order. Whatever it is, they can probably help you make headway toward turning the situation around.
Sales
The sales team has that one vital job: increasing revenue as much as possible at all times. So when your business starts to tank, it’s not surprising that these are often the people you want to speak to. Whether or not they were part of the initial problem, you should find that speaking to them can help you get your business out of the hole it’s in. Generally they will have many tactics, some of which you might never have considered yourself, so it is always worth asking them. If they are struggling, consider focusing on strategy, training, and enablement for your sales team. This should help to bring them out of their slump and make the necessary changes your business needs to see.
Accounting
Business isn’t entirely about money, but if available cash is falling off, then looking at your accounts probably is a good idea. Most businesses have a specific accounts team dedicated to just that. If you do, you should go to them during a downturn and see if there is anything in the budget that could be causing the problem. More often than not, you will find that there is a surprising amount that could be cut out entirely, and quite a lot that could be reduced. Work closely with your accounting team to ensure that they make the cuts necessary, but without damaging the company further. This alone can often make a world of difference to a struggling business. Also, make sure they are on top of collecting on accounts receivable and are using good practices when it comes to getting clients to pay up in a timely fashion. If budget cutting and better collections don’t help, consider getting an external accountant to go over it all with a fresh eye.
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Henry Brown is an online marketing executive. When he isn’t talking shop he’s roaming the streets of London, uncovering the extra-ordinary in the ordinary.
