I know I know..I can hear you asking. How can a recession be good for my business, when my income is down and my customers are taking longer to pay me?!
Let’s look at the flip side of the situation then.
It’s a simple case of taking the negatives and turning them into positives.
(1) Prices are down so this is the time to buy some property. Start looking at some deals. I have a good client and a dear friend who has not stopped building his apartments. In fact he called me yesterday to meet with him and he wants another 3/4 million dollars from the bank to build a high end apartment block!
My client is great friends with an auctioneer and buys the majority of his real estate through auctions. A great benefit of this is, of course, he never pays the true value of the property.
(2) Stop marketing one-to-one. Start marketing one-to-many.
If your clients are no longer paying full costs for services and are holding onto their wallets tighter, you need to understand that and fit your marketing to accommodate them!
Taking your business online and having technology work for you will help with this tremendously.
I did a teleseminar on this a few weeks ago on how financial professionals can step from behind their desks and start marketing one-to-many.
(3) In this period of slow down, get your systems and business running smoothly to take advantage of that upsurge.
Accountants need to look at THEIR businesses as well. If there any expense that you can eliminate or reduce from your Profit & Loss? Can you move out of rental accommodation and find somewhere less costly?
Remember the same advice you give your clients, you need to take as well!
(4) Offer what your clients want, not what you have!
This is huge! In this period, there has been alot of refinancing going on with both individuals and companies. With refinancing comes consultations, business plans, financial statements, etc.
Why not put a small classified ad in the paper targeting your niche, letting them know that you offer this service.
(5) Offer existing clients a new service.
This obviously is an individual process and depends on what you are good at. Find out what clients want and give it to them. Create a joint venture with a related company eg. partner with an IT specialist and an attorney and offer their services to YOUR clients and take a small commission.
This is a bonus tip for you!
(6) Start a new and unrelated business!
You need to go where the money is. Find out what’s missing in your area and look into offering this service yourself. Internet businesses are fairly less expensive to start. Alot of businesses were started during economic downturns, why not you?
The bottom line here is to stop thinking about your profession (accounting, financial professional) as a box!
Step out and start thinking like an entrepreneur that is offering accounting and financial services.
You CAN do other things as well to make more money.
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