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Small Businesses - Tips for The Hard Times

For anyone who is not being affected by the current economic crisis, I commend your luck and good fortune. I have been seeing a decline in my business for the past two months. As a former partner of mine used to say, lawyers get paid with after tax dollars and that makes us sort like a canary in the coal mine when it comes to economics. Here are some blogs that give us some advice on dealing with these bad times.

Work at home blog has 5 Tips For Small Business During A Slow Economy:

Here are 5 tips any small business can use to survive during our current economic situation.

Start Cutting Costs- To keep your bottom line income up, look for ways you can cut costs. Cut out any spending that is not making money currently. Start to barter for products and services. I have always been a fan of bartering when possible and there is no better time to barter than now!

Start looking for additional streams of income- If your business has slowed down, take the opportunity to review other money making opportunities. You may find one opportunity is doing much better than another right now. The one good thing about my business is that I do have multiple streams of income. In the event I lose one source of income I still have several others I can rely on.

Keep an eye on your cash- Right now banks are not lending as much money as normal, so you need to make sure you have enough money to last through the rough times. If you have savings accounts or any additional extra money, invest this money into a short term IRA or other investment opportunity. Make sure if you do invest any money it is in a short term agreement, that way in the event you need it you will not be penalized.

Focus on your time- If your business is slow right now, take the opportunity to work on other aspects of your business that you would not normally spend as much time on. Start networking more or work on the promotion of your website. Start looking for free ways you can promote your business and work on those while you are slow with business. When the economy picks back up you will be prepared.

Keep your head up- Do not throw in the towel on your business. Things will get better. I am sure many small businesses are frustrated and ready to call it quits right now, which I can understand. Stay motivated at all costs. Read these 3 motivational tips and focus your time on productive activities that will help build your business back up when the economy is back to normal!

Business Pundit has 10 Money Saving Tools For Small Business:

The recent economical crisis forced many small businesses to tighten the belt. We keep hearing about massive firings or cost-cutting emergency plans. Not fun, to say the least. But the financial crash can also serve as an opportunity for improvement. A harsh need to lower expanses can prove to be very efficient, especially now that the web is serving us with awesome freebies.

It?s incredible how many quality products and services are available online, free of charge, and a small business that learns to master these opportunities can save a lot of money.

I?ve gathered 10 such services that I especially like. These sites can help any small business cut costs. They?re easy to use, highly efficient and can successfully integrate with the office work.

Business Pundit's list is too long and not easily summarized but worth taking a look at - even though some strike me as more appropriate for start ups (such as Wix - Create a Free Website for Your Business and Mint - They Care for Your Money and Free CRM - Smiling Customers).

Full post as published by Indiana Civil & Business Lawyer on December 04, 2008 (boomark / email).