Motivation, focus and positive action are helping many local businesses to feel cautiously optimistic about the future.
During the past year we have conducted two economic downturn surveys, in Autumn ’08 and Spring ’09. Our aims: to understand how the recession has affected local firms, explore what actions businesses are taking in response to these challenging times, and gauge their outlook for the future. Each survey received around 1,000 responses from across the region, predominantly from owners and decision makers at firms with less than five employees.
Cautious optimism
Findings show a modest increase in the number of businesses reporting that the recession has affected them. 17 per cent have been ‘extremely’ affected, a 3 per cent rise since Autumn ’08. But 39 per cent have found trading only marginally more difficult, while 12 per cent claim to have felt no ill-effects.
Some businesses have benefited from the recession. 14 per cent of respondents say the downturn has had a positive effect on their business. One third of these businesses have taken the opportunity to change and improve, becoming more motivated and focussed in the face of the recession.
Greater motivation and focus could explain increasing levels of optimism for the future. 60 per cent of firms are ‘optimistic’ or ‘extremely optimistic’ about the coming year, an increase of 7 per cent since Autumn ‘08. Interestingly, this sentiment was also echoed during our recent South West Roadshow event, albeit with an extra word of caution, 55 per cent of attendees felt ‘optimistic’ about the future, while 33 per cent felt ‘cautious’.
Put these words together and you get a ‘cautious optimism’ about the future. In our view, this phrase symbolises the outlook of most businesses today. Most business leaders are rising to the challenges of the recession, becoming more motivated and focussed than before, and crucially, are taking positive action to ensure their futures.
Your actions. Our reactions.
So, what specific actions are businesses taking, and what is Business Link doing to help? Almost 50 per cent of businesses are reviewing prices; 47 per cent are exploring new marketing and advertising approaches; 41 per cent are evaluating and reviewing their products and services; 38 per cent are reviewing suppliers; Just over one third are working longer hours, and the same number are undertaking long-term planning; A quarter have introduced pay freezes, and 19 per cent have reduced employees’ working hours, both steps seen as more effective than redundancies; Finally, over a quarter of businesses are using steps such as waste reduction and energy saving as ways to go green and save money.
In response to our Autumn ’08 findings we produced a business survival guide which focussed on many of the issues identified in our surveys. The guide provides panic-free tips for surviving tough times, and forward thinking advice on how to build better businesses. To obtain your own copy of this guide, call Business Link on 0845 600 9966.
Since then we have let our survey results guide the content of our monthly business i newsletter. Our ongoing business innovation and leadership features have been widely popular, we have recently published two special features on pricing, and more generally have produced articles on hot topics ranging from cost cutting and new marketing approaches to supplier reviews, business strategy and planning.
Thank you to those who took part in our surveys. Our role is to help you through these difficult times, and your participation has helped us to do this better. We hope our information and advice has been useful, relevant and timely. And if you need any further assistance, please do get in touch.
What actions are businesses taking to face the downturn?
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