When Business Is Slumping, Make Sure Your Assets Are Producing

When many companies go downhill, they never recover. Far too many of them continue to fall right into oblivion. They either go out of business or just become irrelevant companies. We saw this vividly in the 2001 bear market. The vast majority of the Internet companies were gone within a year.

Don’t let that happen to your business. With the current energy troubles, it’s important to start looking right now at ways you can pull a sagging business out of the dumps.

There were some tech stocks that survived and are now thriving. What did these companies have that the others didn’t?

There’s a lot to figuring it out, but let me give you one idea of what must be in place. Be warned, this is just one consideration. I can’t possibly cover all you need to know about turning your business around. It will be enough, though, to get you started down the right road. With some extra research, hard work, and insight, you’ll be able to pick up your business and move forward.

Cash-Producing Assets

The main thing you need to look at is your company’s assets. When hard times hit, the first thing you do is burn up most of your assets trying to keep from going out of business. In order to survive, your company has to have assets left you can use to rebuild. If it doesn’t have assets, it can’t rebuild.

I’m not just talking about any assets, though. Buildings, desks, chairs, and any other property are nice assets to have. But the only kind of asset that can help you rebuild is a cash-producing asset.

Cash-producing assets generate some form of cash flow into the company. They include solid leadership, a great business plan, new and exciting products the company can sell, customers willing to buy those products, a proven distribution channel, and a way to market the products (to name just a few). The most important cash-producing asset is leadership. The second most important is cash. Without money to finance the rebuilding (or the means to get cash), rebuilding is almost impossible. But great leadership can often find money when there’s none close at hand.

Another important asset is one that continues to produce cash flow after the first sale is completed. In other words, you sell the product or service once, and it brings in cash month after month. The perfect example is your cable TV. The cable company sells you once and charges you every month until you cancel. It’s a great business model that works. It’s also why you see many companies trying to get their customers on some type of monthly payment system.

Another type of valuable asset is a customer database. Too many businesses sell something to a customer and have no way to reach that customer again. Your very best customer is one who has purchased from you in the past. So getting their name, address (including e-mail), and phone number (when possible) gives you a huge asset. It gives you a way to contact your customer and tell them of products, services, or discounts you have to offer. If you don’t have a customer database, now is a good time to start one.

Become Outwardly Focused

The last asset I’ll mention is one that’s often overlooked. It’s your community. Oftentimes, we don’t look at our community as an asset, which is wrong-headed thinking. Unless you’re Bill Gates, the community as a whole has far more cash than you do. So look at your community and ask yourself how you can bless these people with your business. Find ways to serve those around you.

Far too many businesses become introverted when they need to become more extroverted. Proverbs 18:1 says, “He who separates himself seeks his own desire, He quarrels against all sound wisdom.” Don’t separate yourself from those around you. Pursue them in service and watch them turn to your business. Make sure your motives for service are to build them up, not just yourself. Doing service just to gain attention is a dangerous game to play. But your community desires to be served. Do it right and it will become a huge asset.

Steve Kroening is a contributing author for ChristianBusinessDaily.com -- The Online Network for Christians in Business. Your source for news, articles, and commentary from a biblical perspective.