How To Successfully Navigate The Downturn.

I have written about this subject extensively. In fact, if you visit my home page you will see several different blog topics, one of which is “Navigating the Downturn”. Here, I frequently talk about the four pillars: Downsizing, reinvention, debt workout, and Internet marketing.

I was recently engaged by a small business owner who truly gets it. He has focused on three of the four pillars on his own and is seeking help on debt forgiveness, asking us to lead the way on this requirement. His predicament is common for the times. He was informed he would lose a major contract, certainly his largest piece of business, representing about 60% of his gross revenue, which is a huge loss and one that had the potential of putting him out of business. However, the owner was determined not to allow this to happen.

He immediately decided to eliminate the product this large contract required as it absorbed 90% of the revenue for the item, which only supported his primary business, a unique form of consulting. This reduced his overhead significantly. Doing this also allowed him to rid himself of some expensive equipment and accompanying maintenance as well as other supporting overhead requirements. All in all, a great move.

Then, he determined his next best move was to expand his consulting business, so he embarked on a marketing effort to fill the void left by the cancelations of his product division by increasing his consulting revenues. The key to success in expanding his consulting business was Internet marketing, with a focus on taking his business to an international market beyond his current US presence. The man was getting it all right.

All that remained was his debt workout, a component he felt unprepared to handle internally and so he has sought us out for specialized help. We will clearly reduce his few million dollars worth of debt with a debt forgiveness strategy that will rid him of this enormous burden.

Smart man! Successful business, reinvented, downsized, marketed through the Internet and supported with debt workout. His new business will succeed; he has made the transition successfully, he has navigated the downturn appropriately. He has turned potential disaster into likely success by following the four pillars, and successfully navigating the downturn.