All businesses goes through a slow business cycle, either because the nature of their business is cyclical or due to a recession.  It is not a matter of if a slow business cycle will occur.  It is a matter of when.  You should study the nature of your industry to determine whether or not there is a natural slow sales cycle.  When that moment come you have to know how to best handle it.  There are things you can do to succeed when the business cycle is slow.

These are the top 10 things you can do to succeed when the business cycle is slow.

HIRE PART-TIME EMPLOYEES:

Study the busniess cycle carefully and hire part-time employees when sales are slow.  Many businesses that are cyclical hire part-time employees exactly for this reason. 

STAY OPEN LONGER:

You could extend the business hours.  Giving consumers more time to make purchases.  However, extending your hours will mean increasing pay for employees who have to work the longer hours.  It could pay for itself if the extended hours are exactly what consumers were looking for in order to frequent your business and help sales.

INCREASE MARKETING:

When the business cycle is slow is not the time to reduce your marketing efforts.  You want to keep or increase the marketing pace.  This is when your competitors will also be trying to increase their marketing efforts.  If you reduce your’s, your competitor will get those customers when the business cycle pick up again.

REACH OUT TO CUSTOMERS:

Reach out to your current customers and try to lure them back to the store during slow business cycles.  You could offer repeat customers a loyalty program where they get special discounts not offered to anyone else. 

PRICE APPROPRIATELY:

When you price your product you should take into account the slow busniess cycles.  You want to make sure that you’re making a good enough profit to sustain your small business when sales are slow. 

RAINY DAY FUND:

When business is good and the business is profitable you should be establishing a rainy day fund.  The rainy day fund is for keeping the business open when sales are slow.  You still have to pay employees and prepare for new inventory when the business cycle pick up again.

REDUCE INVENTORY:

Manage your inventory closely to make sure that you’re not carrying high inventory levels during slow business cycles.  Inventory have a shelf life.  If you hold on to them when the sales cycle is slow you won’t be able to sell them when things pick up again.  This is especially true for perishable items.  So, reduce inventory when the busieness cycle is slow.

OFFER DISCOUNTS/SALES:

During slow busniess cycles is the best time to offer discounts and sales to lure customers to make purchases.  Sales and discounts were invented for this reason.  Take advantage of it.

POP-UP SALES:

Do pop-up sales.  This is where you sell your products at temporary locations.  Restaurants do this very successfully.  They have locations where one or two employees show up with a limited number of products to sell, usualy for one day.  Through this process you could read a wider range of customers.  These pop-up locations can be at fairs, expos, known pop-up locations, etc.  Do a search on google for “pop-up locations”.

SPONSORSHIP:

Go out and sponsor an event.  It’s a good thing to do when business is slow.  Sponsoring events will give your small business greater exposure and bring in  new customers.  It actually contributes to the bottom line in the long run.

EXPAND PRODUCT OFFERING:

Look at offering new products and services that will sell during the slow cycle.  For example, if you’re in the construction industry, you could offer to do estimates now for work that will start when the season pick up again.  You may even offer to do those estimates at a reduce price or for free, thus keeping the customer on the hook to come back to you when it’s time to get the work done.  You could also expand your offering to do lawn maintenance.