Preparing for the economic rebound

Editor’s note: Michelle Stockman works with Little Rock-based Arkansas Capital Corp. to promote entrepreneurship development around the state. Stockman earned a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University-Chicago in communications and fine arts, and earned a master’s in entrepreneurship from Western Carolina University. Her thoughts on business success appear each week on The City Wire.

If you are holding your company back during this time of the “great recession,” are you at least preparing for the economic rebound?

Over the past 12 months, there have been many stories in the media about how to manage a young company in times of economic hardship. With the market roller coaster and corporate budget cutting occurring, this has become one of the best times to be an entrepreneur.

There is no secret formula to apply to all businesses to serve all their needs (yet some service providers and consultants would like you to think there is). The key to success and the spirit of entrepreneurship is to figure out how to beat the market to offering the product or service faster, cheaper, different and so forth.

To prepare your economy rebound tool kit, remember that strategic planning is your business’ best friend. Also consider the following:

• Use Technology
Look at what new technologies or technology strategies your company can use to increase your business’ capacity while decreasing overall costs. Are there better ways you can use technology in your business to collaborate, track customers, manage inventory or manage human resources? Get an edge on your competition by using those tools.

• Market Review
How is the economic health of your primary market? Have any changes in purchasing trends occurred? Have the demographics of your market changed? Are there any markets that you may be missing with your product of service? Now is the time to understand what is occurring in your market and to position yourself for changes or new markets to capitalize on.

• Get Talent
Now is the best time to hire outstanding talent for your company. Not only do small business have an opportunity to hire talent they are less likely to find when the economy is good, small businesses have the opportunity to hire a generation who no longer trusts larger less nimble companies.

• Train Employees
While training employees seems the least likely use of company dollars right now, it is the best way to prepare your team for utilizing the new technologies you incorporates into operations, make employees work smarter and faster as well as work more integrated (meaning everyone is prepared to understand the other jobs performed within the company). You don’t have to spend a fortune on high dollar training programs, but taking the time to provide training will prepare your staff for a wide range of situations.

Stockman can be reached at [email protected]