Renaud

You are browsing the archives of recession tips.

It’s an easy one. Want to cut costs? Lay off people or ‘terminate their contract’ (as we say in Romania). Layoffs imply some form of guaranteed salary in North America. Therefore some of Romanian Managers/Owners I know have been terminating contracts. But what do you do when things pick up again?
I read a great article [...]

As a leader you need to look at how you are behaving these days. It’s normal to be concerned with just about everything but you also need to look at what you do on a daily basis to keep you focused.
Difficult times require you to sharpen your own skills. Take classes, read books and network [...]

Step #2 Remember that some business can do well during a recession. What does Cisco, Oracle and Google have in common? They were started in the worse possible economical times. I was inspired when I read an article in Business Week. It talks about how companies have persevered when no one would ever think about [...]

In one week I met a car manufacturer and major retailer who admitted to the same problem I had at Romtelecom: The inability to send ad-hoc promotional messages to their clients. The reason: Lack of a structured database. I went on a mission to find a quick solution for all my clients. One phone call [...]

When determining signs that a recession is ending the market is usually triggered or sparked by events or milestones. New politicians entering office that bring optimism, new investment deals, global leaders making bold statements, the end of a war, a revolutionary new product or service that gains market attention like Wikipedia, the changing of seasons [...]

I like this one. I have been telling you about your online presence and how Romanians are increasingly using the Internet to combat the effects of the recession and find the latest discounts and savings.
In the UK the number of online searches for retail discount vouchers jumped a massive 143 % in the final quarter [...]

While attending a French Chamber of Commerce event discussing the crisis I took note of what a global hypermarket senior official had to say about 2009. Food related sales would slightly increase in 2009 vs. 2008 and non-food would drop by 20%. More importantly customers will seek the following in 2009:
1) Promotional prices for brand [...]

In the UK, a Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index showed online spending increased 19% in January 2009 and is predicting monthly growth of around 15% for online sales throughout 2009. January is usually a disastrous month in the UK for retail. Mike Petevinos, UK head of consulting for retail, said there is no reason to change [...]

A recent meeting with a large national retailer gave me inspiration. Despite low volume of customers visiting stores lately the approach was not to cut Marketing expenses but rather re-direct them and try something different: Localized marketing; that is, trying to communicate more effectively to the store’s catchment area or customers residing in the immediate [...]

Selgros Cash&Carry chain, part of German group Rewe, plans to invest some €30-40 million this year in two new stores which are to create at least 600 jobs. - Business Standard, February 10, 2009
Wal-Mart adds to its shopping list. Across the US, Wal-Mart has pushed to convert discount stores into larger supercenters with full-service groceries. [...]