Small Business United Blog

Looking for the Upside in the Downturn

by Kira Wampler - April 27, 2009

Thirteen small business owners joined Intuit today in Mountain View to share what they are facing in the current economic environment. Columnist and entrepreneur Gene Marks and Intuit “chief growth officer” and entrepreneur Justin Kitch faciliated the wide-ranging conversation that is the first in a series of Intuit “Money Matters” Townhall meetings. Businesses ranged from a poker apparel company to a telecommunications shop to services businesses like realty, business coaching and accounting.

The hottest topic was, no surprise, getting new customers. Every participant had a website, and, with one exception, everyone was trying out various forms of social media marketing. What struck me most was that, unlike many big companies, these small business owners were so much more in tune with their customers. They asked the first, best question which was…”who are my target customers and where are they online.” They were not saying “I need a Twitter account” just because another company had one!

Given that the businesses were so different, the uses of online marketing varied greatly. While the realtor found Craigslist to be effective, the dog walker found it to be unprofessional. And, the advertising firm is trying to figure out how to use online marketing for her business and for her clients. No matter which “poison” the small business owner picked though, everyone agreed that staying focused on marketing was hard to do given the “distractions” of actually having to run the business. We’ve certainly seen and heard similiar feedback from the thousands of small business owners who shared their stories with us on Small Business United.

The conversation naturally turned from finding customers to getting paid by current customers. At least 40% of the group is experiencing slow or no payments from customers. Getting some payment, or all, upfront was the strategy most used by the group to keep cash flowing in.

The cash flow conversation led to a rich discussion about what folks are doing during the downturn with employees. While some business owners have laid people off, most are using creative strategies to keep people on the payroll. From making it easier to telecommute (which cuts down on coffee costs!) to creating a four-day work week, Everyone talked about being transparent with their employees, telling them like it is and bringing them into the kitchen in terms of helping the business survive. Again, another lesson big companies can learn from small ones!

Since it was such a hot topic, we came back to marketing at the end of the discussion. Each business owner admitted to weighing the questions - “should I hunker down?” or “should I take advantage of the opportunities I see?” A resounding 50% planned to increase their marketing activities now and, in Justin’s words, to “never let a good recession go to waste.”

The next Intuit Money Matters Townhall is coming up on May 14 in California. If you have questions or topics you’d like to see addressed, let us know in the comments section below.

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