INSIGHTS

3 Tips for Your SME: Beat the Winter Slump

Feeling The Winter Slump?

During the winter season, many South African small businesses, especially those in the tourism and retail industries, experience a slowdown. The colder climate tends to confine consumers indoors, leading to a reduction in weekend trips and a significant decrease in non-vital shopping excursions. This year, the usual seasonal dip has been predicted to worsen due to the persistent energy crisis, escalating interest rates, and the devaluation of the Rand. Surviving the slump will come down to how robust your strategic planning is and how well time is applied during these less busy periods.

Here’s How To Beat It

Use your credit wisely!

Securing sufficient credit to meet your operational costs and salary obligations might offer a temporary fix to sustain your business in slower periods. However, small business owners must evaluate the long-term feasibility of procuring more credit by incorporating the cost of monthly debt repayments into their annual financial strategy. Utilising data for sales forecasting could potentially ensure that any extra debt procured is serviceable. If feasible, negotiating extended payment terms or fixing interest rates for a short duration could provide the necessary flexibility to fulfil debt commitments.

Make the most of the downtime.

Less active periods should not always be viewed negatively – it might be the perfect opportunity for small businesses to recalibrate and gear up for the approach to summer and the bustling holiday season. This could be the ideal time to motivate your team to grow their professional skills by registering for complimentary courses and training or conducting employee workshops.

Xero accounting boasts an extensive library of training videos and other training material, presenting a unique zero-cost opportunity for small business teams to enhance their skills. With topics ranging from financial reporting to payroll management, teams can learn to use the power of this software to improve their data mining and problem-solving skills to ultimately better support the business information needs of the SME.

Prioritise your customer’s experience.

A positive customer experience is a potent competitive edge, particularly in highly competitive markets. SMEs can leverage this during less busy periods by refining their commitment to providing outstanding customer service. If small businesses manage to captivate their customers and deliver superior experiences, they can utilise these strengthened relationships to seize a larger share of the market in busier months.

This time can also be used to analyse and segment customer data to support improved decision-making. The resources and real-time data available with Xero accounting can give business owners a simplified overview of their financial data to drive informed decisions.

We Support Your Growth

We believe in empowering businesses by taking the stress out of accounting. MMS Cloud Accounting offers our clients flexible, comprehensive accounting services with the superb benefits of Xero Accounting software, to support business growth no matter the season. We are here to support your small business’s financial journey. Learn more about our accounting packages here.