Recession Opportunities #2 – Strengthen Relationships
Trend Change?
We are all looking for the opportunities in the current economic climate. At Open Box, we did notice a slow period in December and early January, but February and March have brought increased business and leads. My speculation is that companies have realized that they need to keep building rather than being afraid of what’s coming – either that or the fact that we help increase efficiencies and cut costs has been a big motivator. I would love to know if other companies are also finding the same pattern?
Opportunity # 2 – Build your Human Capital
My first post on recession opportunities was about how to find & plug the leaks in your business. The next opportunity that I have been struck by is the opportunity to build up human capital. For business owners (franchisors or franchisees), this is a nerve-wracking time. Equally so for employees who may be worried about whether they will have a job in a few months, or who are inundated by the negative news that comes out daily (stock markets crash, housing market plunges, etc) and wonder what it means for them.
All of this fear & uncertainty actually does have a bright side. Companies that focus on building the relationships and the confidence of their employees now will be ideally positioned when the markets start recovering to take advantage of new opportunities.
Imagine having a team
- where you knew each person’s strengths and passion
- that had strong communication and a regular meeting schedule
- that was united in purpose and vision
- where creativity and brainstorming were welcome and encouraged
- that knew how to deal with conflicat
- that had strong systems and processes in place, and a clear understanding of those systems and processes
Couldn’t you do just about anything with a team like that?
Building the Foundation
One of the great current opportunities is to build the foundation now by building up your team so that you will be fully energized and ready to take on new challenges together. Consider putting in new meetings schedules, reviewing each person’s strengths & job fit, learning about career development plans, doing visioning exercises. These don’t cost your company and the payoff in terms of productivity and motivation can be huge. I know one company that is taking great advantage of this – how many others have seen this opportunity? How is it paying off for you? What are the challenges you’ve found?
Related links
A couple of interesting related articles posted recently online:
Michelle Rodger’s article on how rebranding is seen as a recession strategy
Shelley Pearson’s article on her franchise blog about the opportunity to lose some of our stereotypes (especially around potential franchisees)
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