A recession strikes fear in the hearts of both small and large business owners. You may feel particularly vulnerable as a small business owner, because your resources are often more limited than larger companies. With the right game plan, you can grow strong in spite of a recession and emerge with a more experienced and enduring company.

Make a Plan

Assess your business strategy and make a plan. Instead of acting impulsively to cut jobs, liquidate inventory or reduce your advertising, formulate a course of action that will take your business through the recession. Map out your long-term strategy for survival and then break it down into quarterly, monthly and even weekly goals to achieve business success. This will probably include a financial forecast that factors your expenses and expected income. Don’t overestimate your income – be realistic about projected income to ensure that you don’t overextend your business.

Focus Energy

Think positively and focus your energy on succeeding. Rally your employees with your positive attitude and get them motivated to sail through the lean times as a team. Keep communicating with your staff, your customers and your suppliers to keep everyone on the same page. When communication stops, people tend to assume the worst. Even if your business begins to suffer, keep communicating and keep your team working together to succeed.

Continue Advertising

While it may be tempting to cut back on advertising expenses, this isn’t the time to skimp on marketing. You need sales to keep your business afloat and that means advertising. Don’t advertise without careful analysis of your customers and their needs, though, because this could be a waste of valuable resources. Try offering discounts that make your services or products more attractive to customers. Watch your competitors and develop products that are unique to your company to attract new customers.

Eliminate Unnecessary Expenses

Watch your cash flow carefully. Trim inventory as much as possible without affecting your business operations. Pay attention to your customer accounts and take quick action if they go delinquent. When customers begin feeling the pinch of an ailing economy, you may encounter bankruptcies that will affect you. Consider eliminating credit for customers who habitually pay late and change your policies to require payment at the time of service. Eliminate frivolous business expenditures such as parties and bonuses. Don’t spend money on business expenses unless it’s necessary for your business operation.

In a stagnant economy, the small business owner may soon find it necessary to trim the budget and cut business expenses. While this may sound like a painful process, you might be surprised to find all the areas where you will hardly notice a little trimming and tightening. Try these five ways to trim business expenses to keep your business in the black.

Reduce Overhead

Examine your business space with a critical eye to find areas where you may be able to cut costs. Perhaps you can downsize to a smaller office suite without losing needed room. If you can’t downsize, try renegotiating your lease for smaller rental payments. Discontinue your office cleaning service and do it yourself. Readjust thermostats to conserve energy and reduce expense. Turn off equipment when you’re not using it. Purchase used equipment and furniture instead of brand new items.

Modify Marketing

Switch your marketing to electronic media. Try an e-newsletter distributed to existing customers and clients. Create a professional presence for your business in social media websites such as LinkedIn, Twitter and FaceBook. Interact with clients on your own website via a blog or on social media websites. Reach out to potential clients using email marketing campaigns.

Cut Staffing

As tough as it is, when you can’t crunch the numbers anymore, consider making some changes in your staffing. Try reducing employee hours first – shorter days or drop one day each week. You may be able to replace existing employees with independent contractors or even college interns at a fraction of the cost of employing professionals. You might be able to use an answering service instead of employing a receptionist.

Tweak IT

Make your technology department more efficient and cost-effective. Try open-source software instead of the costly big names. Examine your phone plan and existing telephone lines – you may be able to cut the number of lines for your business or you may even try switching to Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) for your business telephone service. Reduce the number of printers and other electronic equipment you have for your business.

Examine Insurance

Call your current insurance agent and ask for a reassessment of your coverage. Consider adjusting your deductible up to lower your premiums. Ask about group premiums available through trade or professional associations. Consider umbrella policies, also.

When you want to keep your employees motivated and energized, you have several tools that will achieve this goal. One basic method for encouraging high-quality work involves providing useful feedback for employees. When your employees hear constructive information about their work, they will know what efforts to continue and they will understand areas where they need to improve.

Provide Continuous Feedback

As your employees perform their daily duties, look for opportunities to give positive affirmation that they are working efficiently and effectively. Offer praise immediately when you notice positive situations. This teaches all employees – the one you address with your feedback and the others that overhear — what you value and it encourages continued performance. Once you begin providing regular feedback, it will become a habit.

Negative Feedback

If situations arise that require negative feedback, provide it privately within 24 hours of the situation. By acting swiftly, you ensure that the employee remembers the situation clearly and you also correct the issues before they become too ingrained. Approach the negative feedback from a position of concern, communicating your desire to help the employee perform better. Avoid harsh or angry criticisms – instead keep your feedback respectful and constructive to help the employee understand what you expect.

Encourage an Exchange of Information

Encourage a dialogue as you provide feedback. Ask questions and invite the employee to ask questions to ensure complete understanding. This facilitates learning and improvement in both positive and negative feedback situations. Adopt a position of always striving to improve with a positive attitude and you can motivate your employees to continue improving every day.

Check Progress

Provide continued support in situations where employees may be struggling. When a situation arises where you provide constructive criticism or negative feedback, check your employee’s progress after the initial conversation. The employee may need continued support to improve performance and change. Give specific pointers and ideas to help your employee succeed, if possible.

Formal Evaluations

Once or twice each year, sit down with each employee to provide a formal evaluation. You will find that because you have been giving informal feedback on an ongoing basis, these formal evaluations are simply a more structured review of what both you and the employee already know. There should be no surprises or unexpected situations during these evaluations because you have been actively engaged with your employees and they understand your position.

Apple’s Tim Cook brings a variety of strong leadership skills to the table as he guides the company through challenging times. As the world watches, Cook puts a firm and calming hand to the wheel and demonstrates his ability to continue the vision of Steve Jobs.

Vision

Stepping into Steve Jobs’ shoes is a mammoth test. Tim Cook may not possess the same genius vision of his predecessor. He does understand how to walk boldly, however. The genius might not be hiding inside of Cook himself, but all he has to do is find it within the Apple organization. Cook’s challenge is to continue Jobs’ vision with innovative designs that delight and inspire. The lesson to learn is that a group of innovative and imaginative minds is more powerful than just one.

Aggression

Tim Cook exemplifies an aggressive approach to business operations. According to a well-told story, Cook – in charge of solving Apple’s supply issues – organized a meeting of top staff. After only a short time, he learned that Apple did not have a representative in China. Cook selected a member of the staff and point-blank asked what he was still doing sitting in the meeting. The staffer left the meeting, left the building and left the country immediately on a one-way flight to China. Meet challenges head-on and insist that your employees do the same.

Organization

Insiders confirm that Cook has strong organizational and managerial skills. Cook has the skills to operate Apple in a seamless manner with all gears running together in a completely efficient system. Cook’s emotional stability seems to give him added analytical skills. By analyzing situations before speaking up, he has earned high marks for his detailed, logical and perceptive ideas. Think carefully before you speak – the less you say the wiser you seem.

Ambition

With a methodical purpose, Cook’s steady ambition and quiet confidence will lead Apple through the transition and forward toward new frontiers. The combination of inspiration and aggression in Apple’s new CEO will pull the employees together and dazzle the world. Use resolute ambition to guide your own business to new levels.

Whether you’re traveling for business or pleasure, careful planning will ensure an enjoyable and memorable trip. Use the Internet for travel planning, from itineraries to packing lists to travel recommendations. You can also save time and money when you use websites to help plan your trip because you may find special travel deals and packages available for Internet shoppers.

Fodor’s

Travelers looking for extensive information about a wide range of destinations will probably find it at Fodor’s. With a simple search box at the top of the page, just enter your destination and click the orange “Go” button. Fodor’s will return a list of news and reviews links with recommendations, information, travel guides and travel tips. Don’t forget to check out the “Guidebooks” tab to purchase a print guidebook specifically for your travel destination.

TripIt

When you need help organizing your itineraries, flights, hotel reservations and car rental details, TripIt’s free travel service might be the ticket. After creating a free account, you are ready to organize your travel. When you book flights, forward confirmation emails to the TripIt website. You can also forward hotel and rental car bookings to your account at TripIt. Install the TripIt app on your devices and use the service while you’re mobile, too.

Traxo

After creating a free account at Traxo, users can add travel account information (airlines) and then enter login credentials to connect the websites. After linking your accounts, Traxo will create itineraries based on your travel plans. You also have the option for sharing your itinerary with family, friends or staff before you travel.

U.S. Department of State

The U.S government has a travel website with information and tips about traveling internationally. Participate in a free enrollment program that records your travel plans and contact information. In the event of an emergency while you are abroad, the State Department will know how to contact you. You can check the validity of your overseas insurance policy coverage to know whether you should purchase supplemental insurance before traveling. Learn about local laws and conditions of specific countries before visiting to ensure that you abide by all applicable laws while you are there.

When communicating with mobile employees is a priority, the obvious method involves cellphones. Streamline the conversations even more by utilizing SMS for short updates and instructions. When you understand how to use SMS with employees, you’ll stay connected effectively and efficiently throughout the workday. Text messaging helps keep employees productive and business booming.

Motivation

When you have a sales staff out in force, keeping appointments or dropping in on customers, consider using text messages to deliver encouraging messages and feedback. Your SMS messages can be helpful motivators before sales appointments or they can be effective ways to provide feedback after your employees finish important sales calls.

Reminders

Send SMS reminders to employees for appointments, meetings and other scheduled events. Whether you’re confirming previously scheduled appointments or you are communicating a last-minute change, text messages keep everyone synchronized and aware of daily activities. You can also use SMS messages to remind employees about paperwork they need to submit.

Other Connections

Encourage employees to connect with each other during the day with text messages. This ensures that colleagues have up-to-date information and instructions pertinent to the daily operation of your business. Employees might also communicate with clients, customers and suppliers via SMS messages. This enables them to confirm appointments, adjust schedules or communicate short business messages.

SMS Messaging Services

Consider using an online service that enables you to originate SMS messages from a computer and send them to cellphones. OhDontForget provides both free and premium services for sending text messages. With the premium service, you get added features such as add-free messages and an address book. Bloove also offers premium and free plans with a variety of services for sending SMS messages to cellphones.

Don’t Overuse It

While sending SMS messages to employees can be easy and convenient, don’t overuse it. By saving business text messages for communicating important information only, you ensure that your messages stay effective. If you overuse SMS messaging, your employees may not read and respond to the text messages in a timely manner and they may miss important information.

Happy employees who work hard are the lifeline of a successful business. While you might wish that a paycheck would be enough motivation to keep your employees energized and productive, money isn’t everything. Effective employee motivation depends on your employees. What motivates one person may not motivate another. Try various methods to keep your employees productive and profitable and your business should thrive.

Non-Monetary Perks

Try other types of perks to reward productive employees and motivate all your employees. Institute flexible schedules or telecommuting options for your most productive employees. Use paid vacation days to reward high achievers. Some employees might appreciate a job-sharing perk where two employees share one full-time position.

Recognition

There are many different ways to recognize productive employees and motivate your employees to produce more. An “employee of the month” system where the top producer enjoys special privileges and honors can be an effective motivator. Sometimes even a simple office-wide announcement of an employee’s special achievement and a round of applause can be an effective reward. Be generous with praise and positive feedback – you will motivate and encourage your employees when you notice their efforts and hard work.

Promotion

When hard work leads to promotions, your employees will see that you reward their efforts. Even if you do not have positions within your company for promoting, you can still award leadership roles to high producers. Placing a hard working employee in charge of a meeting is an instant ego-booster and it sends a strong message that you notice effort. Assign additional responsibilities to high producing employees to recognize their efforts.

Parties/Food

Promise a catered lunch in the office for your employees after they pull together and successfully meet a goal. Bring in doughnuts for morning break or popcorn for afternoon break to reward hard work. Take employees out for an after-work cocktail after they work together to land a deal. When you really need your employees to produce, promise a special social gathering as a reward for their hard work.

Financial Bonuses

Financial bonuses are one of the most popular types of incentives used by employers, although bonuses are not necessary the most effective. Employees often appreciate a cash bonus, but money is easily and quickly spent. If you decide to motivate employees with cash bonuses, use them in conjunction with other types of motivation as well, to create a well-rounded program.

Your small business might not have deep pockets, but it has many of the same needs that the larger companies have. A secure IT system, a strong marketing approach and solid bookkeeping are just a few of the necessities that every small business owner needs. Use virtual tools for a small business, streamlining your effort and expense.

Google Docs

Not every small business can afford extensive productivity software like Microsoft. Using GoogleDocs can solve this issue and provide your business with a useful interface that is immediately accessible and transferrable over the Internet. You can even convert other document formats into a GoogleDoc document to eliminate accessibility limitations. GoogleDocs is easy to learn, it’s free and there are a variety of templates readily available for creating documents.

Google Calendar

Manage your schedule with Google Calendar. Effective both on the computer and a mobile device, Google Calendar updates easily and shares readily between parties. Schedule appointments and events, create reminders and make to-do lists. Share calendars between associates or employees, creating as many calendars as necessary to manage your small business.

Customer Relation Management

Streamline CRM services with software designed to increase your efficiency while decrease your effort. InTouchCRM helps your business with email marketing, even creating newsletters to attract customers. With this service, you also have a powerful social and web-based interface that will help you find, connect, manage and store your customer base. SalesForce is another CRM service that brings the small business and customer together with strong sales support. Learn about ways to increase your sales with hot tips for better customer service.

Bookkeeping

Accurate financial records help you track your business and manage your profits. With a careful eye on your expenses and income, you will know where your bottom line lies and how strong your business is. If a professional account is out of your reach financially, an online bookkeeping service may provide the services you need. Outright provides small business accounting and bookkeeping services – choose from a free account or an extended account with additional features such as tax tracking and reporting.

Disaster Recovery

No one likes to think about the worst case scenario, but preparation is the best defense against total loss. While you might not be able to afford an elaborate recovery plan, even a few key elements in place can prevent devastating losses. If your business server ever goes down, a backup of your crucial data will keep your business going. Hire an expert to place a few important safety nets in place for your company. An online backup of your data will prevent catastrophic data loss from theft, hardware failure or natural disasters. Document contact information for all employees and customers. Include backup contact methods such as instant messaging or web-based email to use if standard methods of communication do not work.

It’s all about creating and carving out your niche when you run a small business. Sure, you don’t have the same resources and capital as your biggest competition, but this doesn’t mean that you’re doomed to fail. Once you learn how to compete with the big guys, you can make a game plan for success.

Examine Your Competition

Even the biggest companies have chinks in their armor. Look at the way your competition advertises and examine their product or service line. Compare your business to theirs and find ways you can expand or fill in. You may find areas where you can add features or places where the big guys are not focusing their energy. Once you find these holes, get busy building up your own company to fill the holes.

Internet Presence

Create a high-quality ecommerce website that will compete with the bigger companies within your industry. Keep your content fresh and vibrant on the website, updating as frequently as possible. When you sell from your website, make sure that you offer the newest items as they come out. This may be an effective way to compete with bigger companies. Even if you can’t cut below the big guys’ prices, if you have items they don’t offer yet, you can pull in customers.

Personal Service

Offer personal service above and beyond what customers would receive from bigger companies. This can be particularly appealing for customers. The buying process from big companies often lacks a personal connection simply because of the volume of business. As a smaller company, you may have the time and resources to connect with your customers more personally. Offer sales consultations, answer emails and telephone calls and make a company policy that you will personally connect with every customer to provide the services and products that they want.

Social Media

Use social media to advance your business and connect with customers. Encourage customers to follow you with social media. Once you gather a following on these social websites, offer benefits to these special customers. Consider special sales and discounts to customers who engage with you on social media websites. Connect with customers personally by answering questions and sharing your expertise.

Email Marketing

Collect email addresses as you make sales. These existing customers are a huge base for your business. Create a newsletter full of information relative to your industry. Consider running classes or seminars to teach skills connected with your industry. Send email campaigns to customers about upcoming promotions and sales. Offer incentives to customers if they share a few emails with you to broaden your email base.