Whatever school of thought you’re from regarding our current economic situation and where we are headed, it is wise to “recession-proof” your business as much as possible.

Here are our top tips for preparing your business in an uncertain world.

• Invest in your existing clients

It is cheaper and easier to keep clients and their repeat business than it is to attract new ones and convert them. Your existing clients know your business, how you work and what you bring to the table, and most importantly they trust you. A trust that has been nurtured throughout your relationship through good service, loyalty discounts, and communication and access. Good client care begets new clients in the form of referrals, it makes good business sense to look after your existing clients. Check out how referral-ready your business is with our free diagnostic.

• Understand your financial position

It might seem obvious but an in-depth understanding of your cash flow, sales and outstanding invoices are the fundamentals for a reason. Pay close attention to the efficiency of your invoicing and accounts receivable functions as time to cash is key. Your accountant is your "go-to" in times like these to understand your financial position and what levers you can pull to improve and future-proof your business.

• Secure access to working capital

Your rainy-day fund is critical, and you need to make sure you can access working capital before you actually need it. If left too late you may be subject to tighter lending controls in a tough environment. Contact our expert finance team to find out how you are positioned for access to working capital and emergency funds now.

• Nurture relationships with suppliers and key stakeholders

We’re all in the same boat, and that means that your suppliers and key stakeholders will be looking at the world from their perspective and preparing their business as well. Nurturing these relationships can seem difficult when you are focused on your own patch, although the collective intel is priceless to preparing your business. It can assist with securing supply chains or sales and providing a level of certainty for all of us.

Our Power Tynan Clubs help build and nurture relationships like these as well by bringing together business leaders to share their collective knowledge and insights.

• Leverage borrowing

Using unsecured loans to fuel your business’s growth plans and strategies can be incredibly healthy and help take you to the next stage and better weather any storms. To utilise borrowings to your advantage work closely with your advisers and finance experts to identify what you need and how it is best deployed to best advance your business.

• Consider flexible staffing options

Is it relevant for your business to consider alternate staffing options to assist with scaling relevant to the environment? Depending on your industry you could consider a mix of labour hire and permanent team members to fill gaps and scale as needed.

• Review your strategy

Every cloud has a silver lining! For many businesses there will be opportunity in crisis, and it is pertinent to step back and work with your business advisers to think about where your silver lining might lie. This could be as simple as using free business diagnostics from a trusted source, right through to bringing your adviser and team together to review the environment and your strategy in a strategy session.

Contact your Power Tynan Business Adviser today to get started on securing your business future. Brighter days are on the way!