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23 Tips for Keeping Your Business on Track
Posted by Chris Knudsen on January 10th, 2009
I was just reading through this months unusually thin issue of Inc. magazine. They have a great article on 23 things you can do to keep your business on track during this downturn. My comments in parentheses:
- George Naddaff, Boston Chicken: Bring back the fun!
- John Mackey, Whole Food: If you have to cut staff, cut deep. (I agree with this. If you end up cutting twice then your talent will run for the hills.)
- Paul Graham, Y Combinator: Think like a tech start up and re-evaluate your IT costs.
- Scott Cook, Intuit: Think young - ask your young employees for feedback.
- Fritz Maytag, Anchor Brewing: Take a risk. Now is the right time to try a new product. You have nothing to lose.
- Barbara Corcoran, The Corcoran Group: Furlough your sales staff. (This is the dumbest advice I’ve seen in a long time. Get your sales people selling! Tighten communication between sales and marketing. Get your salespeople on the phone with existing customers and have them ask for leads. Get creative! Your salespeople are the lifeblood of your business. Ask more, not less of them.)
- Ari Weinzweig, Zingerman’s Community of Businesses: Be a mensch.
- Richard Thalheimer, The Sharper Image: No phone ordering or phone-based support. (I don’t agree with this idea either. Don’t reduce the channels a customer can use to contact you. Also, turn your support people into sales people!)
- Tony Hsieh, Zappos.com: Pay employees to quit. (very good idea)
- Chip Conley, Joie de Vivre Hospitality: Find new ways to praise employees.
- Bob Metcalfe, 3Com: Make everyone sell. (Tied for best advice of the whole column)
- Bert Jacobs, Life Is Good: Listen. Really listen. (The other best advice of the whole column)
- Brian Scudamore, 1-800-Got-Junk?: Rally the troops.
- Keith McFarland, McFarland Strategy Partners: Be brutally honest.
- Eric Ryan, Method: Piggyback on someone else’s efforts.
- Bernie Marcus, The Home Depot: Expand employees minds.
- Jenny Craig: Market more, not less. (YES, YES, YES!!!)
- Jack Stack, SRC Holdings: Open wide.
- Scott Anthony, Innosight: Get back to your roots.
- Paul Orfalea, Kinko’s: Pay employees for leads that turn into sales. (Awesome idea every company should implement!)
- Robert Stephens, Geek Squad: Get crazy! Urge your people to think big!
- John Chamber, Cisco: Plan for the upturn.
- Perry Klebahn, Timbuk2: Get serious about service.
Here’s my overall take: Focus on sales, focus on current customers and support, focus on your employees, and get creative!