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O P I N I O N
Strategies to survive the next recession If firms employ these operational and financial strategies, their chances of weathering a downturn, regardless of how bad it is, will increase.
A nother recession is coming. It is inevitable. Based on past history, it should be next year. But these things are hard to predict, so all I will commit to at this point is that another dip is coming. And we don’t know how bad it will be.
What I do know for sure is that a lot of our clients are not thinking about it too much right now. The A/E industry is doing very well. Our clients are growing and hiring and profitability is up for the first time. But it feels like a bubble to me and that is why I am worried that our clients are not doing everything possible to prepare for the eventual downturn. “Another recession is coming. It is inevitable. Based on past history, it should be next year.” So what can you do to prepare for the next recession? I believe there are at least 10 strategies – five listed here – that you can focus on that will make your company financially and operationally stronger, and enable you to survive possible tough economic times ahead – regardless of
whether that is next year or five years from now. Enabling a number of these business management improvements will also help your firm to grow and thrive even if there is not another downturn (but there will be): 1)Get a steady flow of work in the door. I know this is obvious but it is crucial in good times and bad. And I’m sure you are already working very hard to make this happen. But sometimes when times are good and we have too much work, we lose focus on expanding our client list, diversifying our services and broadening our client base. Improving our sell- er-doer results through sales training and processes is a great way to improve competitive results. 2)Retain your best people. Retaining your best staff is critical to firm success, yet I don’t think that the industry overall is very innovative in rewarding, developing, and recognizing our top performers. A
June Jewell
See JUNE JEWELL, page 12
THE ZWEIG LETTER January 16, 2017, ISSUE 1183
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