Are the effects of the credit crisis spreading from the lofty realms of high finance to the “real world”? Are small businesses like beauty salons, hair salons and spas starting to notice the effects? Greg Sterling reports on a recent survey by American Express of small business owners in the USA that suggests that they are starting to feel the squeeze as the economy slows -
There’s a palpable gloom in these survey findings. And even though the sample was relatively small (n=602) I’m certain these responses are fairly representative of the mood and experience among US SMBs right now.
In my mind the key findings are:
- More than three-fourths (79%) of respondents are seeing sales decrease
- More than half (52%) are “cutting back or delaying marketing initiatives”
- 62% expect the economy to negatively impact them (44%) or force them out of business entirely (18%)
So is it all doom and gloom? Not necessarily.
- We helped one of our customers organise a Salon Open Day last week, which brought in more than £20,000 of extra business
- We had a phone call from a salon owner who took an idea from an article on this website, printed 50 leaflets from her computer, handed them out in her local shopping area… and generated more than £150 of business in a couple of hours
While it is tempting to cut back on your salon marketing and advertising when times are tough, that is actually the last thing you should be doing. It’s like a farmer deciding not to plant more crops in the midst of a famine! It may save you some money today, but tomorrow where will your food come from?
The secret, in times of recession, is to focus your marketing budget on methods that are proven to work, and measurable.
We’ll be launching a new product soon that will bring together -
- The ideas from our White Paper - Getting Through the Credit Crunch, How to “Recession Proof” Your Salon
- Some of the tools from the Salon Marketing Toolkit that have proven especially effective in these difficult times
- Extra tools and techniques that we have developed over the last 6 months, helping our customers to improve their marketing during the Credit Crunch
If you want to be informed as soon as the new product launches, subscribe to our email newsletter (using the form at the top-right of this page) or send an email now to martin@beauty-salon-marketing.co.uk
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