“Recession proof your business.” We hear this everywhere right now, don’t we? It is scary to feel out of control. If you let it, you easily spiral into a scarcity mindset. I think our brains hear “recession” and miss the verb, the ACTION that’s needed.
We are flipping the narrative to proof our businesses against recession.
1. Get flexible! In real time, listen to your client’s feedback and needs. How are you continuing to deliver quality service in a way that feels feasible to the client when funds are tight?
2. Exceed expectations! Your design services are a luxury expense. They should be treated as such! Showing up in a professional and timely manner elevates your firm in the client’s mind. Consider using a CRM, customer relationship management tool, to provide timely responses and ensure the client’s history is well documented. Especially with the lag time in shipments, it’s important to have your client communication recorded.
3. Automate and delegate! This may seem counterintuitive, but research shows that businesses that continued to invest in themselves, weathered recessions more successfully. This allows you to prioritize and strategize, leaning into revenue generating activity.
Where can you utilize technology to cut down on your hours? Consider programs such as Zapier, Dubsado, Flodesk, Quickbooks, etc.
Reasons to outsource:
- Don’t have the time
- Don’t have the skill
- Your time and expertise are needed elsewhere
- Increase revenue by increasing billable hours
- Create more time to design
4. Explore Partnerships! Finding compatible businesses to yours will help to make both stronger. Here are some ideas to get your juices flowing:
- Local builders
- Home stagers
- Showrooms
- Local Architect
- Local artisans
5. Cut Costs! Most designers I know have gobs of programs and use them for only one or two specific purposes. Consolidate. For example, you have a program for scheduling appointments and another one for collecting lead data and another one for digital contract signing. That is three monthly payments that can be consolidated into one program such as Dubsado. You work smarter and pay less! Same goes for your programs that you use to make mood boards, schedule your social media and manage your design projects. Consider switching to Indema to cut those costs and consolidate into one, far less, monthly payment. Consolidating not only makes sense from a financial standpoint, but an efficiency standpoint as well.
While no one can guarantee the outcome of your business in a recession, taking proactive steps helps to bolster your client experience and longevity for years to come.
