The first episode of the popular reality TV show, “I’m a celebrity get me outta here” was aired tonight on ITV.  The only 2 celebrities I recognised was tennis superwoman, Martina Naratilova and George Takei (my choice for overall winner as I am a Star Trek fan and just from the first show he seems like an allround good guy).

Anyway enough TV talk, basically the show’s name inspired the title of this post.

For Business owners, managers and executives of SMEs out there, UK and Ireland are in recession with the rest of Europe to follow if the recent EU forecasts are correct.  In all the talk about what’s going to help the economy recover, I’ve been particularly interested in the view that SMEs are the backbone of the economy and need to be supported to help deal with the crisis.

Overall its a really positive message but after thinking more about it, I wondered whether if you were a business owner would you really be thinking about how your business was going to help end the recession, or more concerned with battoning down the hatches in your business because the equivalent of the hurricane season is looming, and it was going to be a long season.  I think my local butcher is more focused on selling as many pork chops as he did before October, and rightfully so. 

The challenge for business owners is managing the difficult task of coming up with a plan to either survive the crisis or a plan to get out.  Either way, lacking an action plan may attract very negative outcome for a business.  Planning for sustainable economic downturn is priority, particularly managing cashflow because businesses don’t go under for lack of profitability. They go under for lack of cash. Thererfore, apart from reducing cost, SMEs need to optimize incomings and plan outgoings.

Alternatively, making a plan to exit may be more attractive to other business owners than slugging it out, again the same EU forecasts say 2010 is when the economy should flip back into growth phase.   A business owner with enough cash reserves to slow business down at home (selling a business now could be problematic), and perhaps explore a new overseas market, should consider Australia.  By all reports the Australian economy is good with household finances strong.  The business visa application process won’t involve putting your hands into rodent or insect infested holds like the TV show but it can incite fear in a lot of people not familiar with the complex process.

The sub class 163 Sponsored Business Owner visa is the most popular choice of visa for business migrants around the world and it accounts for about 90% of business visa applications made to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. The lower financial threshold requirements make it a popular category for small to medium size business owners.

163 Visa requirements:-

• You are less than 55 years or age, or you are proposing to participate in a business activity which will be of exceptional economic benefit
• You owned a business which had turnover of at least A$300,000 for 2 out of
  the last 4 financial years and in those 2 years you managed the business on a day to day basis
• You have a successful business background.
• Your net asset level is at least A$250,000 plus an additional amount for your
  settlement costs in Australia
• You have not been engaged in a business where the provision of professional, technical or trade services took up more than 50 per cent of your time
• You have a genuine commitment to engage in business activities in Australia and has demonstrate that Australia will benefit economically from the proposed business or investment
• State sponsorship approval

Whether the business owner chooses to stay put or exit will be up to the particular person.  Either way, here are some tips to manage a business in an economic downturn by Dennis Howlett (Financial Crisis Impact on Small Business/Insight Community), and if you want some idea about a business visa for Australia, please send me an email.

1. Move routine commmunications to email
2. Bank online for both payments and receipts
3. Bill electronically
4. At an operational level you should be scrutinizing every expense or overhead line item, looking for areas of waste or opportunities to lower cost
5. Negotiate new terms for property leases, offering longer terms at a reduced rate.
6. Consider switching to homeworking for staff and so release property requirements but ensure that communications will not be impeded.
7. Consider the extent to which you can operate hot desking. 
8. Negotiate or switch communications carriers ensuring that each category (voice, mobile and data is optimized for your consumption levels)
9. Review communications consumption with each person who uses company cell phones to determine the best patterns of use commensurate with different levels of doing business.
10. Where possible, switch to low energy lighting, reviewing the cost/benefit of acquiring low energy light bulbs and their ongoing consumption cost. Obtain guidance on this from your energy provider and request an energy audit.
11. Consider the cost impact of reducing the amount of energy you consume. Examples might be reviewing the times of day when heating is used and the temperatures at which it is triggered to come on and off.
12. Endeavor to eliminate printed material and associated postage. You won’t get rid of it all but you can almost certainly make material savings. Review the potential to use online storage services such as Google or Boxes.net
13. Defer the purchase of new printers, concentrate on using laser printers rather than inkjet printers. Inkjet ink costs are astronomical but can be significantly reduced by using refillable cartridge services.
14. Consider the frequency of janitorial services. Does the office really need cleaning every night? Might staff at least partially fulfill that service?
15. Renegotiate bank service charges. Moving to electronic funds collection and disbursement should reduce costs. Right now, your bank will be more concerned with keeping your business and will be disposed to talking about fees.
16. Review all forms of advertising and consider alternative methods of communicating your message. If your company doesn’t have one, invest in a blog as a way of communicating rather than continuing to send fliers and other promotional material. Examine whether online advertising might be better for your class of business.   
17. Eliminate all un-necessary travel and ensure that travel costs are optimized.

Good luck!

Mege Dalton