There’s no hiding from it, things have been tough for businesses all over the world during the pandemic, recession, inflation and the cost of living crisis which is leaving businesses struggling. So, whether business is slow due to COVID19, due to recession, inflation, cost of living crisis or you’re in a seasonal lull, instead of being a negative it can actually be a great opportunity for your business. We’ve compiled a list of 15 things you can do when business is slow to make the most it.

1. Run an Advertising Campaign

For a lot of businesses, the first thing they do in a quiet period is to cut their marketing spend. This means that it’s a great opportunity for you to target their customers for your own business. Henry Ford (The car fella) is a big example of how well this can work as he did exactly this in the Great Depression and came out the other side well and truly on top. As Henry once said, “A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time.”

2. Diversify Your Services

Do you have an e-commerce store? If not, build one so people can shop with you anytime anywhere? Have a store, but don’t offer delivery? Add that service. Do you normally have consultations in person? Why not start running consultations online through video calls. Are you a trainer? Can you create an e-learning course? Try and think of as many ways as possible that make it easy for people from all over to use your business at their leisure.

3. Learn A New Skill

Is there a complimentary skill you can learn to enable you to expand your current business and offer new services to your current client base? Or is there something you’ve always wanted to learn but never had the chance? Well, now’s your time.

4. Refresh Your Marketing Material

When was the last time you got a chance to really sit down and go through your marketing material? Does it say what you want it to say? Is it looking tired and un-engaging? Does it list all of your current products and services? If not, now’s your chance to give it a makeover and make sure it’s representing your business in the best way possible.

5. Refresh Your Website

Just like your marketing material, have a good look through your website. Is it outdated or on an old platform? Is it fully mobile responsive? Is the content optimised for the keywords you want to target? Does it display your business in the best light possible? If not, then fix it and make sure your website looks the best it can for when potential new visitors land on it.

6. Refresh Your Brand

A quiet market is a market you want to shine bright in. When there are limited potential customers you need to stand out as the best option. So ask yourself, is my brand truly representing my business and what we’re all about? Does it have impact and will my customers remember us for all the right reasons?

A quiet period is a perfect opportunity to take the time to really get under the skin of your business and make any changes to your brand that you’ve been itching to do but haven’t had the time.

7. Analyse Your Competition

When we’re busy in business it can be hard to find the time to research your market and see what others are doing. But in a slow period, you can have a nosey around and see what everyone else is up to. This is a great opportunity to see gaps in the market and capitalise on them with new services or marketing campaigns for your business.

8. Survey Your Customers & Employees

How often do you ask your employees or customers for their feedback? If the answer is never or barely ever, then this is a great time to change that.

Find out what they want, what they do and don’t like, what they need and you’ll find ways to better serve them. Keeping your employees and customers happy and loyal.

9. Grow Your Network

When business is slow one of the best things you can do is to network. Networking not only allows you to reach potential new customers, but it also enables you to build a support team of people who can give you advice and ideas to get things moving again.

10. Train Your Staff

Well trained staff are the backbone of your business and the front line when it comes to customer retention. Now is a great time to refresh them on systems, business procedures and even take the opportunity to train them on different areas of the business so that they are a more flexible workforce and can fill gaps when needed.

11. Upgrade & Maintain Your Premises & Systems

Are there parts of your store or business that are in desperate need of a fix-up, tidy up or renovation, but have been neglected as you’ve been too busy? When was the last time you updated and backed up your systems and important files?

Get on it now while you have the time and make sure you are pristine and fully operational for when your customers return.

12. Review Your Service Providers

Can you get a better service from a different website hosting provider, for example, sustainable green hosting? Is your accountant really serving you well? Can you switch your utilities to a green energy provider? What about your bank? Are they ethical? Is there a simpler payment system you can implement? Look through all of your service providers and ask yourself, is this serving my business in the way I want it to? If not, change it.

13. Catch Up On Your Accounts

Yeah, we know this is pretty far down the list of things to do, but hey, accounts are boring. That’s why we have an accountant!

14. Start Another Business

So we’ve talked about diversifying your current business, but what about diversifying? Do you have the skills, contacts or ideas to create a second business in a different market? If so, why not make it a reality and create another income stream to get you through the quiet times with your current business.

15. Have a Rest

Seriously. We all work so hard nowadays, maybe this is just a great opportunity to sit back and give yourself a bit of time to enjoy life and the things that make you happy.