Now customers are demanding even more value than they have in the past. The economy is slowing down and a recession, though maybe not official, is the mind set and mantra of the business community. Everyone wonders if the selection of Ben Bernancke as the Fed Chair was a premonition of things to come (his expertise is the Great Depression).



All of this leads us, as entrepreneurs, to wonder what is the right thing to do when everything around us is falling. Many of our customers and compatriots are stuck in the doom and gloom mode. We are all fighting like hell to stay out of that mental mindset.

Well my friends. Fight on! Because the truth of the matter is that great opportunities are created in times of economic upheaval. Your competitors may go away or cut back on servicing their customers to reduce costs. You should be aggressive and go after their customers with a new vigor. Don't offer them the same thing that your competitor does, offer them something more.

What more can I offer them you say? How about some free information or a discount to new customers? Any of these things can make them think that maybe this is the time to change vendors. All you seek is an opportunity. Once you get that, you can win the client over.

You can even seek alliances with other companies to provide services and together you both could offer a super package with a discount. This will help both you and your alliance partner get new customers and will probably throw both of your competitors into a lurch as they scramble to copycat or cut their prices. Either way, you win.

Large companies that you never targeted in the past may be great potential customers. Many large companies downsize, have layoffs, buyouts and all sorts of cost reducing names for getting rid of people and capabilities that they just realized they don't need. After a few weeks or months, depending on the size of the company and the level of fear of the corporate dictates, they realize that they do need some of the capabilities that they just eliminated. That is where you come in.

Your business can reap a huge revenue increase by providing these capabilities. You can fulfill their needs, grow your business and make more money. That's right, your business can grow during the bust of this economic recession. Given the right approach to aggressively fulfilling your customers? wants you will succeed.

The combination of being aggressive in seeking your competitor's customers and going after large target customers that have downsized or outsourced will lead your business to success, if you believe it and strive to achieve it.

What do we mean by believe it and strive to achieve it?

First you have to believe that you can be successful in this rough and tumble times. In the face of insurmountable market pressures and uncertain weekly sales you can excel. Your business can reach new heights.

Second, you have to work both smart and hard. The smart work comes in setting up the right formula and system to service your customers. The hard work comes in being diligent to make sure that the system is followed. Your focus in all of your systems has to be on increasing your entrepreneur profit by serving the customer better. Failure to connect these two will prevent you from reaching your business profitability goal.

Keep your eye on the goal. Work smarter, but do not change your goals. Your competitors are cutting back to save money. Go after their customers. Review your service offering to large companies that you did not approach before.

All of these are ways that businesses can stretch to meet their business profitability goal in this recession. Try them and you will see that you can keep your business afloat, and sail it pretty fast, in this recession.