Sri Lanka is going through an economic crisis at the moment. The world is going into recession. To downsize your SME may seem like the best way to keep the business afloat at times like this. However, doing this is not always an easy decision, especially if it generally means that you have to let go of people or cut down drastically on salaries or operational costs. But here are some ways in which you can downsize your SME, that might actually benefit the business.
Outsource work where possible
This might come as an epiphany to some of you very industrious small business owners, but you don’t have to do it all. If you’re worried about growing so large that you actually lose your small business status, outsourcing is a viable option. Support other small businesses in the process by contracting work to Internet marketers, accountants, designers, and others. That way you get professional results without expanding your business’s workforce.
Reduce your business hours
Retail businesses can effectively downsize their stores by cutting back how many days or hours they are open each week. If Monday isn’t particularly productive or profitable, why stay open? Or try closing Sunday and Monday. And if your mornings are slow, you might find that it’s more profitable and less stressful for personnel to open at 10:00 a.m. instead of 9:00 a.m.
Offer fewer products and services
One way to scale back is to limit the number of products and services your business offers. Through consolidation you can simplify your business. The approach you take would depend on your industry. Perhaps your business would benefit from offering fewer products, which would give your customer support team an opportunity to provide more specialized assistance to clients. Or, you might find that specialization leads to fewer clients who bring in more revenue.
Multi-tasking employees
You can explain the situation to your employee. Offer them new areas to take on in order to keep the company profitable and stay in their jobs. This could be seen as career growth and incentive which can lead to promotions in better times. The additional responsibility can be presented as a noting of the employees potential and career path incentive in the future. They tend to thrive in such situations.
While not ideal, you may at some point need to downsize your SME and we hope these strategies come in handy!
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