It’s not uncommon for businesses to encounter a drop in sales. But when it happens, getting stuck in a slump can completely ruin a startup’s momentum. Fortunately, there are a number of strategies that can help you bust a slump in no time. These entrepreneurs share challenges they’ve faced and expertly navigated.
We asked five entrepreneurs to discuss a recent time their business faced a sales slump. They explained what went wrong, how they handled it, and what their best piece of advice for busting a slump. Check out their answers below:
Buckle Down
In our business (B2B photography), January and August are when we always experience a significant drop in business, and with salaried employees, you feel it. The best thing to do to prepare for these downturns is to keep some cash in the coffers and use these downturns to spot seasonal trends in the business so as to adjust your marketing or promotional campaigns accordingly.
– Ben Maitland-Lewis of Pretty Instant
Know the Length of Your Sales Cycle
After having a baby recently, I took a few months of maternity leave. This essentially put business development efforts on hold, and sales were sluggish for a couple of months. Upon my return, I picked up business development conversations immediately. Knowing the length of my sales cycle, I was able to predict when that effort would turn into new clients, which allowed me to be more patient.
– Jules Taggart of Jules Taggart Marketing
Lock Down Your Business Development Process
Our SEO agency grew organically for the first three years, and then we had to figure out business development after losing a large client due to circumstances outside our control. We focused on generating new business from SEO (search engine optimization), pay-per-click advertising, email marketing and social media. We have fully recovered and now have biz dev channels fueling ongoing company growth.
– Chris Rodgers of Colorado SEO Pros
FounderSociety is an invitation-only organization comprised of ambitious startup founders and business owners.