What I hear from fellow executives all the time is that they fear we will once again slide into a recession and all the gains we made will be for not. It is tough to make business decisions when the future can seem so uncertain.
Now, I’m no economist. I have no idea whether the gains we are seeing will continue or whether we’ll see another slump. What I do know though is that proper business planning will help prevent you from getting caught in an undesirable situation. I’ll use my business as an example.
As the economy starts to recover, we are seeing a need for additional staff to help us with some of our administrative duties. Normally we would assume that the growth we are seeing will continue and go ahead and hire a full time employee. At first they might not have a ton of work but eventually we assume they will get there. However, since we are not sure what the economy will do, we have instead decided to hire a temporary, part-time worker. This solution allows us to clear off the administrative tasks we need off our plate, without making a long-term commitment that may have to be broken down the line.
We also see this with our clients. A lot of companies we work with are starting to see growth and need new vehicles but are hesitant to get into a long-term lease. What we show them is that they can use our rental center to get the vehicles they need for anywhere from one day to six months. This way they have the flexibility to grow their business as they desire, while maintaining a proper sized fleet. Then, once they know the vehicles are needed long-term, they can make the switch to a lease.
Flexible options like these are all around us. What is important is that you do not allow fear of the uncertain to dictate the growth of your business. Be creative and look for ways that you can grow your business without unneeded responsibility. You can’t control what the future will bring, only how you will be prepared to handle it.
