With interest rates rising, the stock market falling, and layoff announcements from large tech firms, the signs are all pointing to an imminent recession. I’m frequently asked what this means for our business, and what business owners should be doing to prepare. 

Below I’ve shared my six key pieces of advice every business owner needs to weather a tough business climate. 

1. Diversify your revenue streams: Having multiple sources of income minimizes the impact of a downturn in any one area. If all your revenue comes from the mortgage industry, it would be wise to look at other verticals that are more recession proof.

2. Control your costs: Carefully manage your expenses and look for ways to reduce costs without sacrificing the quality of your products or services. During periods of high growth, high-cost elements can creep into your business that haven’t returned value. Review your costs and uncover these areas of waste sooner rather than later.

3. Automate, automate, automate: Now is the time to examine all of your manual processes, identify areas of waste or delay, and automate! Process mining is a great tool to uncover areas of delay, unnecessary manual effort, or inefficiencies/complexities that can be simplified.

4. Invest in technology: Technology streamlines your operations, reduces costs, and improves the efficiency of your business. Automation platforms, such as Decisions, help companies make better use of the software they already own. Supplementing SAP or Salesforce with a process automation solution can help reduce manual work and codify your business processes with repeatable rules and streamlined workflows.

5. Foster strong relationships with customers and suppliers: Maintaining strong relationships with your customers and suppliers can help you weather difficult times and keep your business running smoothly. Talking to your existing customers and strengthening relationships can solidify current revenue and point to opportunities to grow organically.

6. Stay agile: Be prepared to adapt to changing market conditions and customer needs. This keeps you competitive and continues to grow your business, even in tough economic times. No-code automation platforms make business process changes quickly and increase your deployment speed.

Recessions imply great uncertainty for businesses, but preparing yourself to respond to change and taking advantage of automation technology can keep you afloat during the worst of the storm. 

Interested in learning more about the benefits of process automation and recession-proofing your business with technology? The Decisions team is ready to help you, today.