Winning Ugly

In very tough times like these it may come down to winning ugly. You may have to resort to some unpleasant strategies to recover your bottom line. Yes, they are 'ugly' in that you nor the one on the receiving end will like how it looks but this is about survival. Here are some things you can do to win ugly.

• Renegotiate leases and loans. Ask your landlord and lenders to refinance your balances to a lower and longer amortization. If they won't, do it for them and tell them this is what you can do. This is not a case of trying to get out of something you owe. You are just seeking to relieve tight cash flow from these tight times. It is likely that they will live with it but it will ruin your chances of getting anything else from them in the future.
• Deduct ten or twenty per cent from vendor invoices you have in hand. Again, if they continue to want your business they will probably go with it but they may not ship you any more stuff.
• Reduce employee pay by ten percent. This has almost become standard right now. Maybe force everyone to take two or three days of unpaid time off each month. Have a later start time and an earlier end to the day with reduced pay accordingly.
• Turn lights off, AC up, and remove every other bulb from light fixtures. Re issue company cell phones with ones that only have local service and thats it. Be cheap.
• Reduce insurance coverage to bare bones that guard against major catastrophe only.
• Take more of your pay out of the company in the form of a loan to you. This has to be paid back but it gets you out of paying payroll taxes on it. Pay it back slowly with an auto deduct from your regular paycheck over a couple of years. You can only do this a few times.
• Barter. Pay your bills with paid for, useful inventory. That is how all business was conducted way back when. The indians woluld trade a cowboy blankets for rifles. You may want to exchange free landscaping service in lieu of rent. Bartering conserves cash. There are even barter groups you can join such as Trade Bank.

You do what you have to do.