Are you undergoing any comprehensive health check-ups at least once a year? If not, please do so asap. I am sincerely hoping you will find everything is in order and will continue to go about your day to day work in the same earnest. However, if any trouble is brewing, you will get an early warning and be able to sort it out with the help of your physician before it develops into any big nuisance.

I am sure you understand the implications of ignoring this critical step. Not only you will suffer physically, you will have to spend more in solving the bigger problem later as well as lose time that you could invest in growing your business.

Talking of business, you need to undertake master health check ups for your business too. Identify the key points like number of clients, topline and bottomline, business per client, top 10 clients, top 10 products and like and monitor these regularly so that you can identify any problem signs before they become a serious threat.

You love yourself and your business, don’t you? Please don’t leave them to chance. Take a bold step – today!

If you have ever asked this to anyone (or even yourself), read on…

It is true that a prospective employee gets a very short amount of time in the interview and has to convince the interviewer with his/her technical and human skills. So many people lose a job they were quite fit for, because they get nervous or do not portray a good picture of their skills in the short time available.

The biggest tip that I give to all job-seekers and people who wish to enhance their careers radically is to create a blog to showcase their talent. You can setup a blog for free on www.blogger.com or www.wordpress.com. You can also create a blog with your own name but that requires a small investment.

If you make research driven and informative posts (like comments on current happenings related to your field), a prospective employer can gain a very good understanding of your skills and who knows, they may be seeking you rather than you seeking them. In any case, a mere mention on your CV that you maintain a blog on the same topic that you are seeking employment for, can help you get in the short-list without any fuss. Make sure you include a prominent mention on the blog that you are available for hiring. A short blurb in the sidebar should do this job quite well, without getting in the way.

Think about it.

• Do not stop marketing? You said, you need more business and still you are thinking of curtailing the marketing budget? Just remember that your competitors have chopped off their budget and now your messages will be much more visible.
• Focus more on result-driven marketing. Every business should invest in branding but branding-driving-advertising is out for the time being, at least for the SME segment. You must divert all your marketing funds to result-driven marketing promotions. Check the ROI for each promotion and push the better ones harder while killing the lazy ones. However when calculating the ROI, do not forget to take the lifetime value of the customer in account.
• Maximize business from the current customers. They are much easier to sell to than new prospects. Think of all the other benefits you can provide them. What additional services you can offer to them? Since they have already bought from you and are satisfied with your services, they will be much more apt to order these additional services.
• Excel in customer service. Don’t give your customers any reason to even think about dumping you.
• Become an expert. Develop a huge expertise in your area of operation. We don’t bargain with the surgeons who are “heart bypass surgeons” – do we?
• Proper pricing can help you maintain a healthy bottomline. I know nobody wants to buy at the old price anymore, but try to add value rather than reduce the price. In the worst case, don’t reduce the price – offer a recession discount. That way, you can withdraw the discount when the recession is over.
• Use technology for improving your efficiency. Customer facing portals can provide regular status updates to increase satisfaction levels. Internal portals can improve staff efficiency and communication.

Even applying a few of these tips can start changing things for the better. Remember, don’t feed the monster. Talking about the recession all the time can push you to go into a limbo and you can sit there, waiting for goverment help, which itself needs help. Get up and do something to help yourself and you will be proud of yourself. And your employees will thank you for that.

You can also check out more recession busting tips from Abhishek Rungta, a good friend. Please post comments below with your tips and strategies that you are applying at your workplace. We need tips and then, some more tips.