The first half of the year 2022 saw inflation impact businesses. As we transition into the second half of the year, we hear about the possibility of an upcoming recession. Predicting the impact and the duration of a recession is an exercise in futility, however businesses can increase their probability of survival if contingency plans are in place proactively and when businesses plan for a recession.
What is a Recession?
Recession is a period of temporary economic decline during which industrial activity is reduced. During recessions, consumers reduce their spending and because of this behavior, businesses cut costs, and postpone new investments.
Since this is a temporary period, businesses increase their probability of survival if they invest in strategic planning.
PLANNING:
“What-if” scenario planning is an important first step.
- What if revenue drops by 5% 10%, 15%, 20%?
- What if prices must be lowered by X%?
- What if three of the top five clients leave?
- What if demand is higher and capacity is not able to bridge the gap?
These are key questions every business needs to ask proactively. Once “what-if” scenarios are identified, it is important that the risk factors behind each one is documented, and mitigation plans identified.
PRIORITIZATION:
Having a prioritized list of initiatives, cost items, focus areas, and investments helps business owners stay agile in case they need to make rapid changes. These are few areas to prioritize higher:
- Retaining Subject Matter Experts
- Automation
- Technology and systems that help improve collaboration, productivity, and provide business insights
- Documentation
- Vendor reviews
Every business (irrespective of the industry) is dependent on technology to some extent. A ‘reactive’ mindset on technology will push businesses behind by many years and they might lose out to the competitors on what could be a huge strategic advantage/ disadvantage.
Some of the ways to invest into the future and look beyond the recession:
- Evaluate SaaS platforms/ tools that improve team member and client experiences
- Evaluate a migration to the cloud to help with agility and scaling up/ down as the business needs demand
- Automate processes to permanently reduce the cost of doing business and the reliance on third party tools and systems
- Invest in tools that drive business intelligence and data monetization – many small and medium sized businesses are not using all the data they have about their clients and their business to drive insights
How you can leverage ISOutsource during these times
ISOutsource can help you not just survive but thrive during these times. We have historically saved clients 40% to 60% of internal IT expenses using our shared resource model, all while delivering outstanding service as trusted advisors to our clients. Our clients stay with us for over 7 years on an average even without a contract! We have been helping communities thrive by serving over six hundred small and medium sized businesses in Washington, Oregon, and Arizona.
- Save costs by outsourcing your IT to a 100% US based organization
Outsourcing non-core functions of an organization will help you save cost. If IT is not the core competence of your business, you might be spending more money than required in staffing your own team and creating redundancies. ISOutsource specializes in helping you completely outsource your IT work at a fraction of your cost today.
- Save on software licenses
Chances are that you are not utilizing volume discounts that are available to companies ISOutsource for software licenses (operating systems, email, cybersecurity, and meeting tools). We can help you get the best price for all your software needs.
- Help with IT strategy and ways to optimize for the long run
We are Virtual Chief Information Officers (vCIOs) for our clients. Our vCIOs help you produce a strategy to shift your IT infrastructure to the cloud or point you to SaaS systems that help drive efficiency/ productivity and help you to think about ways you can optimize your IT spend in the short and long term.
- Pay for what you need, not for excess capacity or for redundancy
ISOutsource is known for our no-contract, time, and material billing model. Instead of spending a certain amount of fixed cost or getting locked into multi-year contracts with other service organizations, consider moving to a “pay for what you consume” model. We bill in 6-minute increments, and we route work to the right level of engineering resources based on complexity to enable our clients optimize their spend.
- Improve your compliance scores and get ready to onboard new clients
If you are in an industry that is highly regulated, or if your business sub-contracts to an industry that is highly regulated, you might want to think about compliance and certifications that help you widen your target market for client acquisition. ISOutsource can help you put together a compliance program and can also help you get certified by executing the compliance program along with your team.
ISOutsource can help you not just survive but thrive during these times. Our vision is to help build thriving communities of happy, productive, and supported businesses and we hope you are one of those business that we can help as trusted advisors during times like these.
