Surviving in recession

1. How to survive and win in current
difficult socio- economic
environment
Presentation made to Billionaires Chapter of BNI on 12th June 2019 at Colombo
Hilton
Maxwell Ranasinghe
M.A( Interdisciplinary) York -Canada, BSc. ( Businesss Admin) J’pura- Sri Lanka CPM( Marketing) New
Haven- USA

2. We areina
difficult
time
 Unpredictable adverse events
 Breeding religious and ethnic animosity by
extremist
 No trust in the political leadership
 No proper plan to handle socio-economic issues
 General lethargy in investing
 Hesitation to take risk
 Your trading partners having problems
 Substantial drop in your sales income
 High cost of operations
 Reduction in the reserves
 Difficulty in paying recurrent expenses that you
have been paying in time during the past

3.  The help extended by the banks in better times are not available
 Statutory payments have to be postponed -ETF, EPF, ESC, NBF,
VAT, BTT, INCOME TAX
 The de-motivation of staff in the face of not been able to provide
them with required salaries and benefits or cutting down on certain
perks
 Doubts in the minds of employees whether the company will
survive or not
 Leaving of certain good employees
 Firm getting entrapped in a vicious cycle of loosing income, loosing
profit, loosing customers, loosing good employees and finally
leading to bankruptcy
 The possibility of properties getting vested with banks and
financial institutes.
 No action talk only ( NATO – nation)
 Negative news culture and media going beyond their mandate

4. What ismarketing
indifficult
/turbulant times?
 “ Identifying customer’s needs and wants in a changed
environment where customer is in difficulty as to run
his business or rather struggling to survive in the
market . Serving such needs and wants in a manner
that the customer will feel that you are a provider of
solutions to his needs in trying situations” Maxwell
Ranasinghe

5. Thechallenge
 Is it easy?
 Absolutely not, it is really tough.
 What options are available for us?
 Not much !
 The only option is “ You need to adjust and fine tune
your approach to the changing environment”

6. Twobasics
There are two basic
elements
You will learn the
change
You will change as a
company and also as a
person.

7. Method
Nine
Fundamentals
to pursue

8. 1.Commit asa
person anda
company faceand
overcome
 I will be more vigilant to what is happening in the
market place and will learn and understand very well
the current situation ( PESTEEL)
 I have the desire and commitment to do well in this
period of difficulty
 Every problem has an answer in built.
 I am confident that I can win
 I need to take things in to control rather than just
letting things to happen.
 I will manage and control my personal expenses well.

9.  I am willing to forgo some of my perks
and be a source of inspiration
 I will change my negative attitudes.
 I will contribute well to draw up new
plans and cooperate with management
and others to implement it.
 I will put more effort in understanding
customers than in the past
 I will not forget the basics in marketing
and customer care.
 No body can prevent me from doing well
except me.

10. 2.Be mindful
 Be smart and thrifty, but don’t get panic. This,
too, shall pass.
 Economies go through cycles of expansion and
contraction. It’s what we all learned in economics
courses (back then, of course, we weren’t really
paying attention, as we were not really affected).
 The trouble is, while academics can illustrate
well on the cyclical economy, real business people
have to live through difficult economic events.
 We love the expansionary times, but the
contractions can be very painful.
 If you’re smart, you’ve managed your balance
sheet well and can ride out a period of slow or no
growth.

11. 3.Reducewaste
totally andcut
unnecessary
expenses
 Have a Brain Storming Session within the staff
on “ How to eliminate waste and reduce
expenditure” It should come within.
 There will be so much that you can do, just make
an attempt.
 You will find so many options.
 Eg. reduce expenditure, even selling a property
and settling high interest loans may help, close
down loss making ventures and concentrate more
on the areas you have a competitive advantage.
 Talk with banks and other suppliers and tell
them that you need their advice and support to be
afloat.
 This is applicable not only for your company but
personally to you as a staff member or a
businessman. So personal expenses to be
analysed and reduced to the bare minimum

12. 4.Marketingismuscle,
notfat.Becareful
aboutcuttingit.
 Marketing money in a period like this is oxygen on Mt.
Everest—the less there is in the surrounding
environment, the more valuable the amount you
possess becomes.
 You may change the way you communicate with the
market but you need to keep on communicating with
the market about the offers that you make. You just
cant cut the total advertising budget.
 Use innovative and cost effective methods of promoting
your business
 Cutting your marketing spending is a sure way to give
ground to competitors who may be more aggressive
during the downturn.

13. 5.Don’tlosefocusby
chasingbusinessesyou
wouldn’tnormallywant.
 When clients and customers get nervous about
the economy, they cut back their spending. For
you that could mean fewer transactions, smaller
purchases, or possibly both.
 Do your best to stick to your customer base and
enhance the value you provide to your best customers.
They may decide to make their cutbacks in areas other
than yours.
 But if you try to broaden your service appeal to
please a wider audience, chances are, you’ll make
your best customers even less satisfied, giving
them one more reason to stay home or spend less.

14. 6.Don’tDiscount.
 When companies are hit with declining sales and
shrinking margins, the options can start to look bleak.
 It’s easy to rationalize discounting during a downturn,
for your company’s sake (”it helps to drive business”) as
well as for the sake of your customers (”they’re
struggling and need the help”).
 Attacking one challenge( sales)–by lowering prices, can
make the other challenge( margins) worse.
 Best way is to show that you give the “best bundle of
benefits” to your customer
 But one powerful way to enhance both sales and
margins in a downturn is to make your Sales Force
More Effective.
 Many companies in the world who had that attitude
among other changes have faced the situation well.

15. 7.Do notbe
Pessimistic
 There’s lot of hope that we will come over the current
crisis.
 Sri Lanka had such issues in the past too
 We may pull out of our economic rut more quickly than
anticipated but social and political issues needs more
innovative ways and means of handling
 Until things get normal, clients and customers will still
need to eat. They still need transportation. They still seek
entertainment, food & clothing, medicines, exercising,
vacations, housing, mobile phones, internet, perfume,
office supplies, computer servers, equipment and
machinery.
 As the market tightens up, the best positioned players will
survive and thrive.

16. 8.Customer
focuschange
 However, in difficult times, just doing better than
others may not really work.
 You may have to do differently than others to
sustain your business.
 But the most important thing again is not to
become different just because you want to be, but
because your customers will like it.
 Put more effort in understanding
customers and their problems and be a
partner in solving them rather than
trying to sell what ever possible.

17. 9.Do itright
Avoid mistakes, be mindful of
the points discussed ,
understand more about the
changing markets, do not
forget the basics.
Re visit the basics and do
basics better than what you
have been doing.

18. Open
Discussion
Contribute and share
your ideas
There is no one
“Manthra”