It reminds me of the old story about Henny Penny. In that childhood story, a chicken is eating lunch one day and an acorn drops onto her head. She concludes that the sky is falling, so she sets off to tell every animal she encounters the dire news - "the sky is falling". The animals are taken in by her alarming report. And in the end the gullible animals get eaten by a fox. Not a happy ending.
The question I keep wondering is, are we being duped like the animals in the Henny Penny tale? You see, everywhere I go, I keep seeing people acting pretty much like normal. They're out there driving around town, shopping at the same stores, and packing out the same restaurants, just like they always have. So where is this "deep recession" we keep hearing so much about? Is it possible that the public is being led to the mouth of the fox at the urging of a confused chicken?
Undoubtedly, some sectors of the economy have been affected by the economic downturn. Basically anything relating to housing is down. The auto industry is down. Some of the financial industries have taken a hit too. But is the sky falling? I am inclined to say no.
By the way, I started my first cleaning business back in March 1982, right at the end of a recession that lasted from 1980-1982. Start a business in a recession? Yes I did. And I had no trouble doing it either. And when an economic slump occurred in the late 80's, again in the 90's, and yet again in the early 2000's - it was business as usual for us. The point I'm making is this; the cleaning industry can hum along just fine, in spite of the occasional downturns in the economy.
So, what are we to do when the economy heads south? Should we fold up our tent and cry in the corner with the rest of the "Henny Pennys"? That doesn't make a bit of sense to me. On the contrary, now's the time to hit it harder than ever. Now's the time to dig in and get resourceful. Marketing should be given diligent attention. Increase the time spent making cold calls. Implement new strategies to make your work more efficient and more profitable.
Now is the time to put a good marketing system into action. If you're not able to produce sharp looking marketing material, our CMS program can be a very useful tool. Use your marketing pieces to persistently go after commercial accounts.
Get out there in the trenches in front of the decision makers. Provide carpet inspections, and demos. Stay in front of your prospects, making frequent return visits on them. In the end, your persistence will pay off as you'll see these prospects warm up and become your new clients.
The sky is not falling! People are still spending. And the cleaning business is historically fairly recession proof. There are still plenty of good opportunities for resourceful cleaners to grow their businesses. Go for it! And if I can assist you in any way, shoot me an e-mail or give me a call. I'm always happy to help.
Encap It!
Rick Gelinas - The Encapman
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2 comments:
My wife and I live 10 min. north of the US border in BC. We frequently go to "the States", especially since the closest town to us is in the U.S.
We went down to Coeur d'alene, Id and Spokane Wash. 2 weeks ago. The first trip we've made since September. With all the gloom and doom we hear on CNN, Fox, etc... we thought that we'd see a real slow down as the recession starts digging in. Not so.
When we visit Coeur d'alene, we like to eat at the Olive Garden. Normally, one has to wait 30-40 minutes to get a seat and that is during the slow time of day. We thought that we'd go during the slow part of the day this time, figuring that we should be able to get a seat right away. Not so. Waiting time. Minimum 40 minutes. That was at 2:30pm. We both looked at each other and blurted out, "where's the recession?" Store after store we visited were as full as they normally are, restaurants were full, Home Depot and Lowe's seem to have had the same volume of people that we're accustomed to see.
We even commented about the recession to a waitress at Olive Garden and she commented that maybe the NorthWest area of the US hadn't heard about it yet.
Sure, like you were saying Rick, sectors are hit and hit pretty hard. But the chicken little story really does hold true. The end result will be how you react.
A year after I bought my business in 1999, the dot com crash came and things did slow down a little bit, but not much. I didn't watch much news nor was interested in it so I didn't know that I was supposed to listen to all the chicken little's. Maybe a good thing?
Well Said Rick, as I said in Nashville, I can't worry about what we can't control!!
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