3 Ways to Help Your Business Beat Inflation

This inflation business is going to get worse before it gets better. Apparently people are actually willing to work now, which is good, but they’re also demanding a much higher pay rate than before. How do small businesses stay above water when every one of our expenses is rising? Your first thought might be to raise prices which is a slippery slope. While some customers may not notice, you may lose others. Before you take drastic measures, check out these suggestions below.

Recalibrate:

Take a deep dive into your books - check out where your money is being spent and who’s spending it. Check out what’s in your portfolio and if anything in there is absorbing too much of your cash while not showing as much return as some of the other things you’ve got. See what dead weight can be cut and where things can tighten up.

Do you have a few rockstar products or services that overshadow the others? Consider making those your main focus and dropping the others completely. Or just at least until you’ve got a super solid handle on this whole inflation situation.

Find savings where you can because you may need it down the line. Potentially a less expensive manufacturer or way of delivering your product, for example.

Automate:

It pains me to say it because I am always so proud of our companies that can create job opportunities for other people but in tough times, things get shitty. So, because cost of labor is just continuing to rise, unfortunately, we’re going to have to

a. Reduce the work. Is there a way to condense or eradicate some of the work that needs to get done? This could be reducing hours or eliminating a position, or

b. Automating everything that doesn’t need to be a live human being. Can you purchase a machine that does what Simon does in 1/3 of the time (ouch I know…)? Can you use an electronic chat system on your website to sort through customer service requests? Can you upgrade your CRM to help you stay in touch with your customers more efficiently and bring in more sales?

This is the way we’re moving ya’ll, whether it feels uncomfy or not, so, just like Bitcoin, buy it or get left behind!

Reposition:

Check in with your brand again - does it still communicate a message that resonates with you and your audience now? If not, adjust it. Try bundling, de-bundling your products or services or testing out a subscription based pricing model. Sometimes when people are presented with the same product in a different way it catches their attention.

Invest in your customer experience through efficient staffing or newly added automations, better training, or better selling processes. Vertically integrate your offerings to make yourself a one-stop shop. Offer complimentary services, subscriptions, or warranties for your products. Once you’ve got the foundation as set and sturdy as possible, you can target less price sensitive customers in your selling and marketing strategies, and really back up your claims!

Extra Tip: Consider purchasing extra inventory now. The value of your cash may devalue whilst supplies are likely to continually increase. So, if you’ve got the cash, why not invest it now in things you know you’re going to need later? That way you’ve got a larger margin, at least for a few months anyway.