Keep Moving Forward

How to ensure your business survives and thrives in tough times

By Ken Hostetter at Wachovia Bank

Strategies that work well enough to get a small business through short-term slumps often aren’t as effective with long-term challenges. These tips may help you survive—and even thrive—through tough times:

Focus on your core business. Concentrate on what you know best, and resist the temptation to detour into other areas. Pay attention to what’s working for your business and in your market, and identify the gaps. An untapped key opportunity may exist in your core business.

Focus on the customer. Customers are assets—invest in them constantly. The more you know about your customers—and the more they know about your products and services—the greater your opportunity to build relationships that will nurture your business. Exceed customer expectations by demonstrating your understanding of their needs and concerns.

Get to know your banker. In challenging times, your banker can be your most important financial resource. The earlier you discuss your current financial situation and your expectations, the more value your financial services company can provide. If your banker knows about potential financial risks, he or she can help you avoid them.

Maintain financial flexibility. Monitor your financial statements carefully and make sure you understand your sources of revenue and expense—including your investments in receivables and inventory. Find a financial services provider with Internet tools such as online statements and spending reports that allow you to keep an eye on expenditures in “real time.”

Stay financially light on your feet. Grow your savings and investments to maintain equity and liquidity. Good businesses take advantage of economic slowdowns to grow market share.

Grow your technology and resources. Think of technology as your virtual workforce. Shop around for the right online solutions and use them to improve your customers’ experience and make your business more efficient. The Small Business Administration (www.sba.gov) has excellent online resources and information. Also, check with your financial services company. See if it offers access to the full realm of services such as payroll, retirement, online banking, bill payment and merchant services.

Hire and retain good people. Your competitors can copy your technology and products—sometimes virtually overnight—yet they can’t copy talented, dedicated and caring people. Hang on to your good employees in tough times; you’ll need them then and for when you’re growing again.

Maintain your entrepreneurial spirit and flexibility. Continue learning. Keep an eye on what other companies are doing. Look at what larger—and successful—companies are dong, and try to adopt or respond to their best practices.

Build a team of advisors. Your banker, attorney, CPA and other successful entrepreneurs can be valuable allies and help you identify resources and solutions to help your small business grow.

These are tough times—but tough times force business owners to think of creative ways to reach goals and create a stronger, better small business.

Ken Hostetter is MidAtlantic Director for Small Business Banking for Wachovia Bank (a Wells Fargo Company), based in McLean, Virginia. To reach him, call 703-760-5389 or e-mail Kenneth.hostetter@wachovia.com.

Thousands of companies have chosen Fairfax County, located minutes from Washington, D.C., as the best place to establish and build their business. Fairfax County is home to seven Fortune 500 companies, 6,100 IT companies and more than 350 foreign-owned firms. A U.S. Department of Labor study called Fairfax County the private-sector job leader in the Washington area, and a Time magazine columnist described Fairfax County as "one of the great economic success stories of our time."

Fairfax County also features a quality of life that's hard to beat, with a top-ranked public school system, excellent public services, innovative George Mason University and Northern Virginia Community College, and access to Washington’s historical and cultural activities.

The award-winning Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) promotes Fairfax County as a business location. It has experts to guide you as you plan for your business–at no charge. For more information about the FCEDA’s free and confidential services, check out www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org or call 703-790-0600.