Economists Brian Beaulieu and Alan Beaulieu of ITR Economics and authors of Prosperity in an Age of Decline, are predicting a Great Depression in the 2030s. ITR Economics, the oldest privately held, continuously operating economic research and consulting firm in the U.S. and the company has an overall forecast accuracy since 1985 is 94.7% at one year out. The Great Depression is expected to last for years. Even if a Great Depression does not happen exactly as predicted, an economic downturn is inevitable at some point. Marketing agencies are often vulnerable in economic downturns as marketing is sometimes the first budget item cut. How can you help your business not just survive, but thrive during an economic downturn?
1) Build up a client base in recession-hardy business verticals, such as education, healthcare and technology. 2) Create multiple streams of income for your business.
3) Create both low and high price point services to help fill in the gaps if budgets get cut.
4) Document systems and processes in case you have to reduce staff and retrain existing staff to handle more responsibilities. 5) Hire and train staff with diverse skills so they can manage multiple areas of responsibility. 6) Develop a metrics system to financially prove your value to clients.
7) Have a cash reserve to purchase businesses and intellectual properties.
Challenge for Members: Create a ten year plan preparing for a possible economic downturn and then build a strategy for how you will weather the downturn.
Sources:
https://www.itreconomics.com/content/july-2019-webinar
https://itrondemand.com/store/product/prosperity-in-the-age-of-decline-book
Relevant hashtags: #Marketing, #entrepreneur, #greatdepression, #2030Depression