A recession occurs when gross domestic product (GDP) shrinks during two consecutive quarters. Official figures report that GDP shrank by 0.2%. A second consecutive quarter of negative growth, will technically place the UK in a period of recession. Fortunately there are steps you can take to recession proof your business.

How to Recession Proof Your Business

Beyond these figures, UK businesses are already feeling pressure from rising inflation, supply chain disruption, staffing and rising energy bills. As unsettling as news of a recession can be, building resilience into your business planning, can strengthen your organisation against such threats.

Make a Plan

The first thing to do is to make a practical plan of what needs to be done versus what can wait, or may even become unnecessary during a recession period. Certainly think about what you can achieve with smaller revenue or resources. Make a list of your essential expenses and be realistic. Don’t cut any roles you can’t live without. Some could simply be reduced to part time relative to the shrinkage in revenue. A flow diagram can be invaluable under rapidly changing circumstances. So that you can see what happens if a) occurs, or what do when b) happens. 

Great Client Relationship Management

We all appreciate loyal clients especially during a downturn. It pays to remember that clients everywhere will be facing their own unique challenges. So any way that you can help them achieve that loyalty, will go a long way to recession proof your business. Perhaps it’s a more flexible booking system, or taking the time for an honest appraisal of how things really are for them. Your competitors may be desperately trying to attract them by offering lower prices. It’s an unfortunate fact that customers are usually the first to go during tough economic times. Perhaps you can keep yours onside with healthy and responsive client relationship management (CRM). Reward your loyal clients with whatever you can. Depending on your business model, perhaps you can work in an Introduce a Friend Scheme to help make your increased CRM really pay off during a recession.

Hold On To Your Best Employees

Take good care of your best employees. Their first priority will be to take care of their families. Make sure you are part of that solution with great communication and making reassurances that you can stick to. Don’t let them burn out by unnecessarily overworking to try to impress you. Be honest about how business is. Offer temporarily reduced hours or a change in job description if necessary. Your key employees will have bespoke knowledge and experience of your business and clients that you can’t afford to lose. Look at what incentives you can offer for their hard work. After all, if your business does better through their efforts, and makes more money, then you can afford to give them a bit more money.

Use Social and Content Marketing

Maintain a presence with your audience through online marketing and interactive or meaningful content. When the recession eases, consumers will remember best those who maintained a positive presence throughout the hard times. Let’s face it, everyone has been forced more online due to Covid19. Find ways to continuously nurture your relationship with your customers either naturally or with positive marketing efforts. Keeping your business on their minds during a recession will help keep your clients coming back.

Use Technology to Streamline Your Running Costs

There’s no better money-saver during a recession than the latest technology. Accounting software packages are one of the best timesavers out there. Automate your income and expenditure with Making Tax Digital (MTD) ready software that is a breeze to use. Prestige Business Management can offer access to the best software available through our accounting packages. We provide QuickBooks training and support. And access to Receipt Bank. We’ll provide exactly the support you need. You could discover new online tools to complete your projects for a lower cost.

Innovate

Try to find ways to be responsive to the financial environment to recession proof your business. We can help you streamline your practices and learn what schemes and measures your business can benefit from during a recession. Change can be rapid under economic crisis, but Prestige Business Management is well positioned to help you navigate and innovate. We are always on hand to appraise your ideas. 

Restructure 

Make the most of your team’s best skills. Meet regularly online and allow staff to voice their perspective to help recession proof your business. Job shares and a reshuffling of take and objectives could benefit your successful running of your business during a recession. Take a look at how you structure your team’s responsibilities and reporting structure. You might even notice that you can cut back on the hours you need. Making sure your core team is heard and their needs taken into consideration. It depends on your business and your service or product. Regardless, though, now is the time to invest in technology that makes your work easier.

Learn

It seems natural to ease off on business development plans during a recession. However better communication with your client base can lead to some valuable insights into your market while turnover is slow. Try to set yourself for an uptake in business from your valuable efforts following an ease off of recession. Business development lays the groundwork for the future. Set appointments in your schedule to network, test out thoughts about new strategies and gauge the feeling for your forthcoming productivity.

Continue Marketing Your Business

Set aside an achievable marketing budget. A misconception is that cutting out marketing will save your business money during a recession. More than ever you need to bring in new business during a recession. No part of your business can be cut entirely, so focus in on where your best leads come from and try to build on that success and knowledge, but don’t be afraid to take a chance. Ideally you need a long history of data to utilise this online. But a strong marketing affiliate will be able to use your existing analytics to help make powerful and affordable, targeted campaigns to help recession proof your business. 

Invest in Better Financial Management 

Robust financial management could give you a whole new perspective on the scope of your business, particularly during a recession. Prestige Business Management can help you analyse your cash flow and recommend strategies according to your market position to help recession proof your business.

Get the Support Your Business Deserves 

Keep up to date with any government support packages available. The best way to know what you are entitled to is to follow us on social media and read our regular blogs, to receive all the latest updates. 

At Prestige Business Management we can help your Business

At Prestige Business Management we can help your business understand the best solutions for the success of your business. Find out what we can do for you. Call us today on 0203 773 2927.