Crisis Survival Kit: 5 Business-As-Usual Survival Tactics

Benjamin Tomkins

1.Keep overhead low -- Take a hard look at your expenses and scale back on nonessentials. Prime cost-cutting areas include business travel, labor, and rent.
 

2.Make noise -- Your competitors will probably cut their marketing spend. That presents an opportunity to get your message out in less cluttered environment and, possibly, at a better rate.

3.Have a strong online presence -- More and more consumers use the Web to find businesses, so it's crucial that your business be visible online.

4."Hire" customers -- Turn your satisfied customers into a word-of-mouth referral engine by offering incentives for those referring new clients to you.
 

5.Always negotiate -- Don't forget that everything is negotiable. With other businesses are cutting back, you're in a better position to negotiate for lower rates, better ad placements, lower telephone rate plans, or other discounts