Submission #6: You Can’t Cut Your Way to Success

In ANY economy it’s essential for an organization to improve their core business processes in order to increase efficiencies. However, when adversity calls, many companies’ first inclination is to cut their way to success.

Several years ago I worked for a company that fell on hard times. They reacted with layoffs and service cuts—seemingly the easiest/quickest way to maintain profitability. Unfortunately, companies get stuck in this paradigm and never break the cycle. The more they cut, the more adversely it affects their business. Before long they’re running a skeleton crew, orders are harder to fulfill, and new business opportunities all but dry up.

Although increasing operational efficiency is necessary for survival, it alone does not guarantee success. Consider the following steps:

Listen closely to your customers. Find out their pain points and work on innovative solutions.
Evaluate your existing customers and determine organic growth opportunities. It’s much easier/faster to increase business with existing customers than to develop new ones.
Think “flexible”! You may need to modify your business model to adapt to an ever-changing environment. Listen, adapt and become a problem solver.
Utilize every social media platform available to promote your business. This will improve brand recognition and grow additional revenue streams. Do not be intimidated! It may take time to learn and maximize effectiveness, but the gains quickly deliver positive returns.

The way we do business today is changing at warp speed while the economy conspires against us. We must have the ability to listen and adapt in order to thrive.

Lou Biedka, Executive Vice President
lbiedka@splashworldwide.com
Office – 212 239-4275
Mobile – 646 370- 9792

Splash Worldwide
48 West 37th Street, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10018
www.splashworldwide.com

About Dan Gallo

I'm a small business lifer, starting/running businesses since I sold seeds door-to-door as a kid in The Bronx. I've played guitar and enjoyed baseball since I was 5 (born a NY Yankees fan). Just prior to marrying Kim in 1983 I became a Christian. We have two sons; Daniel's a musician & social media expert with a smart, insightful sense of humor, and Adam who recently graduated from Brooklyn College double majoring in Creative Writing/Literature and Anthropology. Adam now works in the non-profit sector. Since 2002 one thing we love to do together is go on service/missions trips to Belize. We've collectively spent 60+ weeks in Belize with this missions organization http://twaw.org. I started my 1st company in January 1985, and been self-employed ever since. I sold my last company, Mentor Communications Group, in '04. After 2 years w/ the acquiring company I started The Allasso Group, LLC doing Small Business Consulting, Fund Raising/Capital Raise-up Campaigns, Sales Strategy, Outsourced Sales Agency work, & Digital Marketing Programs (Social Media, SEM, etc.) since April 2006. Notable projects: Hired as Small Business Advocate and Social Media Director for IBM's "Supplier-Connection" - Feb '11-Dec '13. Hired as COO to help turn-around late stage start-up software company myVRM. Jul12-Dec '13 Hired as CEO of CoupleWise.com, a Digital Health2.0 app, to write business plan, raise seed capital, & completely redesign and relaunch the app. Aug '16 I won a Finalist spot for MassChallenge UK's 2016 fall cohort in London from Sept thru Nov. Started Oct15 - Current. I enjoy helping turn-around struggling small businesses, and launching new business ventures. Feel free to contact me with opportunities.

View all posts by Dan Gallo →