Small businesses need to stay afloat during the current economic downturn. This means changing with the times and altering business strategies. Jason Zickerman, president and CEO of The Alternative Board, a coaching franchise system, says it is essential for small companies to take a stronger approach in order to survive these hard times.

“This economy will unfortunately take businesses out,” says Zickerman. “Companies need to question themselves if they aren’t making changes in the current situation.”

Zickerman offers tips to help small business owners keep focus:

— Perform a 90- or 180-day cash flow forecast. Try to update the projection each month. Sign accountants in order to better understand how to create a cash flow analysis.

— Pay attention to the certain elements that can affect cash flow. Keep up inventory; poor managing of inventory is common. Watch customers and make sure you know what they owe you. Discuss terms on your purchases and accounts payable.

— Stay in touch with customers. It is important to be aware of your clients’ feelings toward your products or services. Try to keep customers as happy as possible.

— Continue marketing. Businesses that haven’t stopped marketing are doing better in this economy. Be more aggressive; confidence is portrayed when money is spent on exposure.

— Talk with your workers. Maintain employee involvement in meetings. Gain their perspectives and include them in the company’s survival tactics.

— Keep the strong staff. If the budget calls for a staff reduction, avoid firing those who are committed and play a big part in the company. You don’t have to base cuts on seniority or salary. Try not to fire multiple employees at once. It is better to do it one at a time.

— Find support through networking. You shouldn’t be alone during these slow times. Connect with other business owners to share ideas and learn tips.

For more information, visit www.thealternativeboard.com.

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Franchising can be an attractive way to extend a successful brand - but entrepreneurs should beware high costs and management challenges.

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By Emily Maltby, CNNMoney.com staff writer

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (CNNMoney.com) — If you’re the owner of a successful business, is now the time to franchise it?

Paul Sperry, CEO of IDP Consulting, posed that question to a group of fellow business owners gathered last month in a conference room in Farmingdale, N.Y. As members of peer advisory group The Alternative Board (TAB), Sperry and his colleagues gather monthly, like dozens of other TAB groups across the country, to confidentially discuss business issues.

IDP, a 47-person IT firm based in Jericho, N.Y., provides technology management services to businesses of less than 300 employees. Sperry founded the company in 1986, and has a personal goal to leave the business in about six years. One of his employees has been talking to him recently about expanding IDP in a franchise model. Sperry is seriously entertaining the idea, but he’s wary about the problems it could bring.

“Franchises work for companies like Geek Squad when they don’t care who they’re selling services to,” Sperry says. “Franchises that saturate the market like that lose quality. I think they lose commitments from staff, and that won’t work for me.”

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The world is changing—fast.  If you are a business owner, you know how quickly your company can become commoditized. 

Commoditization can mean lower prices, lower margins, and (if you don’t do something about it soon), the demise of your business.

Over the last several months, I have discussed the notion of commodization with several hundred successful entrepreneurs.  We have discussed this phenomenon in our TABBoards and are developing specific tools and strategies to address it.   Many owners see great opportunities in hyper-rapid change, others are petrified.  Just about all agree that if they do not lead and stay differentiated, that they can quickly get trampled.  The question is HOW.  Here are a few tips to prevent you and your company from becoming a commodity:

1.  Develop a Proactive De-Commodization Strategy:    If you think your product or service is so unique that you are immune, you may want to think again.  Over one million people have viewed the Did You Know 3.0 video.  If you haven’t seen it, please take 5 minutes to check it out on YouTube.   Those who have watched it are struck not only by the speed at which the world is changing, but also the rate with which this speed of change is increasing.  In your business planning, make sure to incorporate the fact that commodization happens 10 to 1000 times quicker in the Information Age than in previous generations.

• Develop an Innovation Mentality:  This is not an easy feat.  It requires an unconditional commitment from the owner and from the entire leadership team.  Changing the way people think can be tough, but the rewards of developing an Innovation Mentality will be well worth the effort in the face of changing marketplace that all businesses face today.

• Develop a World Class Sales Organization:  Your competitors are the biggest readers of your website and marketing material. If a product or service is valuable and there is a decent sized market for it, someone, somewhere will soon be trying to duplicate it.   An effective, differentiated, scalable Sales Culture is something that can not be duplicated.  I have developed a simple checklist you can use to create a high-performance World Class Sales Team.  If you’d like a copy, click here and write “WCSO Checklist” in the Subject line.  

• Develop your Reputation by Becoming Your Industry’s Most Trusted Advisor:  Products and services can be copied quickly, but overcoming your reputation as being the most trusted source is difficult.

• Become a TAB Member:  Many of you who are reading this are already members of The Alternative Board and have developed an edge over your competitors by virtue of the proprietary TAB process.  This process includes peer learning, accountability coaching, effective planning tools, operational and financial assessments, business education and much more.  If you are not a TAB member, but have an interest in learning more or seeing if you qualify for membership, call 512-331-1822 or click here.

In our rapidly changing global economy, the great idea that you worked so hard to develop into a business advantage can likely be re-engineered in India, China, or a host of other places that can deliver your product or service at a fraction or your cost.   An idea that took years to pirate a generation ago can today be re-manufactured and delivered in a period of weeks or months.   By following these simple steps, you can create an amazing competitive advantage for your company.   

Copyright ©   Joe Zente  2009.   All Rights Reserved.

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If you need to downsize in your company, you might be interested in TAB President Jason Zickerman’s recent comments featured in Business Week.

Stopping Survivor Guilt

As a senior manager in an era of massive layoffs, it’s your job to stave off survivor guilt before it lowers the morale and productivity of remaining employees

By Rebecca Reisner

As an adjunct to the sympathy they feel for laid-off co-workers, employees go through three self-centered stages, says Jason Zickerman, president of the Alternative Board, an executive consulting firm based in Denver.

1. Whew! I made the cut.

2. I have to do all this work.

3. They don’t appreciate me.

“You’ll see changes in personality. Outgoing people now being silent. Work isn’t as good, and absenteeism rises,” he advised. “There’s anxiety and pressure, the beginning of depression in the case of some. For employees, layoffs are not in their control, and whenever someone else is holding the puppet strings, it’s stressful.”

Soon, the business itself can feel the effects of survivor’s guilt on its bottom line. Fortunately, business consultants say, survivor’s guilt is highly responsive to treatment if senior management acts early and often.

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Following is a recent article about Mike O’Krent and his unique company, LifeStories Alive.
It is a wonderful testimony concerning the intersection of passion, entrepreneurship and success.

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