Posts Tagged ‘Recession’

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How did you survive the recession?

May 5, 2014

navigating the storm

It looks like we have come through the recession and things are finally improving – it was a rough, tough, bumpy ride but we got there!

As things start to improve the horrible memories will fade into the past but hopefully the valuable lessons we learnt will stay with us and we will be stronger for them.

In our industry we were particularly vulnerable as many businesses totally shut down on their positive spend and investment in Marketing and PR was deemed by many as unnecessary in tough times. Budgets were slashed and at the beginning of 2009 we lost a lot of good accounts. On top of this we suffered a lot of bad debts, which was really hard to carry.

Thankfully we dug in and we survived and we managed to come through this challenging period without losing any staff, without having to reduce wages – in fact it was the opposite. We managed to grow our business and we took on extra staff and we opened an office in Dublin.

Personally I took a lot of inspiration from a book I read called ‘Storming the Recession‘.

In my view we survived the recession because of a few things:

  • We did our best to stay deliberately positive at all times
  • We worked hard at keeping our team motivated and protected them from tax increases
  • We used social media extensively to boost our awareness and promote our services
  • We looked for and grabbed unique opportunities, which only occur in tough times
  • We kept our pricing competitive at all times
  • We made sure we delivered for our clients – their budgets are precious and it is essential their investments are wise ones
  • We looked for extra ways to deliver value for clients including embracing new media enabling them to connect with customers in new ways
  • We diversified our services and started to run training courses in PR and Social Media – most of these were done in the evening and the extra income really helped. These courses also helped to increase our network and awareness
  • We absolutely worked our socks off punching in incredibly long hours – we thought recession would mean less work!!

There were times when things were really tight and very worrying but we always seemed to just about get through. Maybe we were lucky but then again maybe you make your own luck?

This was a unique time that no doubt will come again and is important that when that happens we remember how we coped the last time round, which is why I am forcing myself to write this!

What did you do to survive the recession?

Greg Canty

Greg Canty is a Partner of Fuzion who offer Marketing, PR and Graphic Design services from our offices in Dublin and Cork

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Posted in Irish Economy, Marketing, Positivity, Recession, Social Media | 6 Comments »

Revenue Commissioners on Target?

August 28, 2012
Target Express

Parked up for good ?

It is absolutely terrible to hear that Target Express in operation since 1988 who employ 390 people between Ireland and Northern Ireland have ceased trading due to an attachment order by the Revenue on it’s bank accounts. Target Express are clearly a big operation operating 12 depots and distributing for companies such as L’Oreal, Smyths Toys and AWear.

In 2011 they won the Haulier of the Year Award and they opened a new depot in Monaghan – well done guys, we loved that positive, drive forward mentality (have a peep at their Facebook page entry).

On Target for better days!

For those who are not sure what this means, basically the Revenue have taken over the bank accounts of the company. According to reports there were delays with payments to the Revenue (as is the case with so many businesses) and clearly they got fed up of waiting, used their ultimate power and crashed in.

390 people did not get paid last Friday as a result according to reports. I’m just picturing drivers going home to their families petrified about the future and trying to solve the dilemma of shopping for groceries at the weekend.

The pieces I have read on the papers suggest that negotiations were ongoing with the Revenue but ultimately someone there made a call to say “enough is enough” and they have effectively shut the business and helped to put nearly 400 people on the dole queues.

Maybe the company gave the Revenue the two fingers for two long and were not playing ball, maybe the revenue were unreasonable and abused their power, ignoring the tough and very real circumstances this company (fuel prices have gone through the roof as well) found themselves in – this recession ain’t pretty!

Without knowing any of the detail there is a good chance that Target Express (who are definitely finding cash flow really tight) could not look to the bank for extra funding and the only real wiggle room was to delay payments to suppliers and yes, squeeze some extra credit from the Revenue. Would you do this instead of paying your people on a Friday?

The Revenue will argue that they are not a bank and should not be funding a business with their Vat and PAYE/PRSI. Viewed in one light they are right – however in the grand scheme of things they are possibly very wrong. I would prefer to see those arrears being paid over a reasonable time and 390 people still working.

The Revenue must not have the power to take such action without recourse to some “Job Protection” authority (run by business people please) who can access the situation and put something reasonable in place that will protect valid jobs where possible and feasible.

Surely if we believe our Government’s stated objective, creation and protection of jobs is the biggest objective that there is right now in Ireland – everyone’s objective must be aligned to this, including the Revenue Commissioners.

When it comes to “Power” the Revenue just have too much and I don’t trust that it is being used properly – the “Target” must be jobs and Power needs to be with those who can generate and protect jobs, not take them away.

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

 

Fuzion are a Marketing and PR Firm with offices in Cork and Dublin

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Posted in Irish Economy, Irish Politics, Positivity, Recession | 35 Comments »

Pessimistic, Realistic or Optimistic – Which are you?

June 6, 2011
Optimistic, Pessimistic or Realistic?

Would you sit next to this guy at a party?

My friend was killing me with his negativity, I was feeling hot, uneasy and uncomfortable.. despite really liking him and not having seen him in quite a while I just wanted to get out of there!

I guess I’ve been accused of the opposite, taking a general optimistic approach to things. For some this can come across as being uplifting and for others it could be seen as being naive and maybe they want to get away from me?

It can be difficult at times when we are surrounded by doom and gloom, bad news, tangible signs of distress and people that are really struggling with things going badly wrong for them and we all have a different way of dealing with this environment.

In the meaty discussion with my quite successful friend I found myself not wanting to be in his company any more as he was sapping the energy from me with his pessimistic view on everything. I could literally feel a cloud creep over us as we chatted.

His big argument when I challenged him about his “outlook” was that he was being realistic as opposed to being pessimistic. In his view I was being optimistic and not realistic!

Of course neither of us were wrong and we agreed to disagree and having thought about this even more I think the real secret is all about adopting a “positive” attitude – even in a pessimistic frame of mind this can be quite powerful.

Even though the environment has been terrible my friend’s business has done really well by him positively tackling the lousy climate and continually adapting, despite his pessimism!

Whatever is happening in your business you do need to get through it “yourself” and part of this is equipping yourself with the tools, attitude and general approach that works best for you.

For me I recognise that part of my own personal armour is adopting a positive approach, which at times can be quite challenging. And yes, I am optimistic about how me and our business will survive and thrive but being realistic I know this will only happen if we work our socks off and continue delivering for our clients.

My medicine?

Even when things are going wrong attack the situation with positivity, be optimistic about your future success but realistic about what you need to do to achieve it. And if the guy sitting next to you is dragging you down with his negativity, pessimism or realism then move on politely..

No one said it was going to be easy!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

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Posted in Irish Economy, Personal development, Positivity, Recession, Uncategorized | 19 Comments »

Are you spending enough on Positive Costs?

April 25, 2011
Doorman

Positive Cost ?

In my accounting days (yes, I know most of you won’t believe it – I was!!) we had a few different ways of looking at the costs of a business.

The most popular of these was a very simple analysis – Fixed Costs, which were those costs that would not vary with volume and Variable Costs, which were the costs which did vary according to volume. This was quite a simplistic model, which didn’t always hold up!

We then had other methods of looking at costs such as Zero Base Costing and Activity Based Costing .. interesting stuff indeed!

Since the recession has kicked in I have witnessed first hand clients being advised to cut back on expenses by the accounting fraternity and often they just do it themselves automatically – the types of costs that get chopped first are those that are deemed to be “unnecessary”, which will typically include marketing &  advertising spend, sales reps, items like training, corporate entertainment, Christmas gifts, staff entertainment  and other “extras”.

On the surface it is easy to figure out why companies would cut back in such a way but you could ask the question: Why spend this money when sales were easier to come by and when it is harder to win business you just abandon them?

Could reduced sales be a self fulfilling prophecy when you cut out certain overheads?

The New Cost Model

Taking the knowledge of my old profession and combining this with what I am witnessing with clients every day I am now proposing a new way of analysing costs.

Here goes ..

There are actually three types of costs:

Negative Costs –   these are the costs that a business is “stuck” with, regardless of volume. It would include Rent and Rates (but not necessarily 100% of these – I will explain that later), Insurance, ESB, etc.

Maintenance Costs – these are the costs of servicing the business that you have brought in. It would such items as staff costs, raw materials, power and delivery costs.

Positive Costs – these are the costs that are all about bringing new business in, effectively the costs, which should have a “positive effect” on the business.

Positive costs are the most important costs of the whole business, they are the elements that are designed to start the engine, the elements that can make things happen, that “trigger” customers to actually place an order.

Positive costs are far reaching and could include surprise elements that you would not expect: the premium you pay to have a premises in a location that will bring in more customers, the cost of washing the car after it has been serviced, the cost of polishing the shoes that have been repaired, the cost of having a receptionist who answers calls promptly and deals with customer queries swiftly.

There could be an element of positive costs to most people overhead in the business – the porter who does “meet and greet” at the door of the hotel, the credit controller who carefully spends time with customers who are experiencing difficulty, the accountant who spends time with customers to understand the business better, the staff party to reward a hard working team and a deliberate initiative to improve morale.

I’m sure with a little effort you will think of thousands of other unexpected examples – all of these elements contribute to bringing in more business and create a “positive effect” on the business.

Of course Positive Costs will include items such as advertising, marketing, graphic design, web marketing, social media activity and even PR!

Positive costs are absolutely essential for generating business for any company – cutting these out may be viewed as a necessary step but it will eventually choke the oxygen of the business.

Recession (or any time for that matter)

Using our new cost model I would suggest the following approach:

Analyse your costs into the different cost categories and work towards –

1. Reducing the negative costs as much as possible

2. Improving efficiencies and work practices so that maintenance costs are as little as possible

3. Spending as much of your overhead budget as possible on positive costs .

I am not for one minute suggesting naive spending – always look for the best value in your positive costs and don’t waste money, making sure they are actually positive costs – that the spend results in increases in business.

Are you spending enough on Positive Costs in your business?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

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Posted in Accounting, Advertising, Business Planning, Customer Care, Irish Economy, Marketing, Positivity, PR, Recession, Social Media, Staff training, Training, Uncategorized | 22 Comments »

Aetna – Vultures?

April 16, 2011
Aetna - Castleisland, County Kerry

Healthy Attitude?

Irish Examiner today (16th April, 2011) – Vultures part 2 ..

In a statement yesterday Aetna management said that the proposals submitted by the staff “did not support their strategic objectives for the global service strategy“.

This statement was made in response to proposals submitted by employees, which included more flexible work practices and offers to work additional hours – this is all in an attempt to keep the facility open and save the 100 jobs.

I don’t know any of the background to this but I do know Aetna were more than happy with the plant as it expanded less than  3 years ago.

If you were one of their workers, surely you would deserve more than that statement after over 20 years .. Is this how we have come to look after people?

The really ironic thing is what Aetna actually do:

Aetna Global Benefits (AGB), the international division of Aetna Inc., is a provider of comprehensive health benefits solutions for multinational employers and government agencies. AGB’s offerings include medical, dental, vision, life, disability, emergency assistance and health management programmes for employees and high net worth individuals who live, work or travel internationally.

Healthy attitude I would say ..

Just two and a half years ago at the 20 years anniversary and expansion announcement (no doubt complete with mega grants)  Martha R. Temple, President of Aetna Global Benefits issue the following statement in September 2008:

“The Castleisland facility has gained an excellent reputation within Aetna as having a highly skilled and productive workforce. In 2003, we chose this site as the pilot location for our Aetna Global Benefits business serving expatriates outside the U.S. The pilot has proven successful, so we are moving forward with our expansion of the facility. I am proud that we are in a position to mark our 20th anniversary in Ireland with this expansion and a clear commitment for the future.”

Knowing the state of the Irish Economy and considering the length of service and apparent success of the plant everything should be done to keep this facility open.

Sad, very sad.

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

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Posted in Customer Care, Irish Economy, Irish Politics, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Debt Forgiveness or Vulture Culture?

April 16, 2011
Debt Forgiveness or Vulture Culture?

Feeding the vultures?

Reading the Irish Examiner this morning I am struck and really upset by what I am seeing ..

On the cover is a picture of the large queues at the NAMA property auction in Dublin this week – while I am sure there are some genuine people in that queue looking for a break by getting a property they can afford and get their lives moving I am more than sure that their are plenty of “vultures” swooping to pick some meat off the dead carcases of our property collapse.

Consider the steps that lead us to this point:

Step 1 – Property owner (formerly known as bank customer) can’t afford mortgage: bank turfs the loans to NAMA at a huge discount and write off the balance (request money from government to cover the loss – p.s. we have to pay for this). End of problem for Mr Bank.

Step 2 – NAMA take on advisor’s, solicitors, experts of all sorts and deal with the “property owners” at huge cost (the problem is just in another box and we pay the fees). A good friend of mine, a solicitor tells me they all know the biggest game in town is getting a gig with NAMA!

Step 3 – NAMA creatively look for solutions to sort out the property market? Nah – lets just do a fire sale and get rid of the properties for half nothing. What brains came up with that solution?

Step 4 – Chase the original property owner for the deficit (at this stage it is probably much bigger than it ever needed to be in the first place), which they will never, ever be able to clear.

Step 5 – NAMA realise that it has a bigger hole than it thought in the first place – look for money from Government as they have a shortfall (that’s us folks!)

Step 6 – Vultures queue up, avoid buying any property until they come up for sale again in another bargain basement sale. Further devaluation of property prices as a result – yep you get a bigger hole with even more people in trouble..

I know there was a huge reaction this week to talk of Debt Forgiveness (why should we pick up the tab for other people’s carelessness? is the general attitude) but if you look at the scenario above, which we have all witnessed – the original property owner could have made a sensible arrangement with the bank, managed through the current economic climate and ultimately recovered more money than what was ever possible in an auction fire sale.

Possible Result – The deficit would have been a lot less, huge savings would have been made on unnecessary professional fees and the property market would not be further compromised.

Just a month ago a pub quite close to us was closed by the bank – the “owners” could not manage the level of debt as they bought too high. Now the pub is being touted around by the bank  at prices a fraction of what the original debt was – they will never recover the deficit from the original owners and we will end up picking up the tab for the “unnecessary deficit”.

Will the new operators do a better job that the original owners? And what about all the suppliers who get burnt in the shut down scenario?

Debt forgiveness is emotive and really difficult to manage (fire sale is too easy, less messy, inhumane and lousy for the economy = our country) but it must be better than pure stupidity, which we will all end up paying for. It’s time to work hard at brave, practical solutions that have the best interest of the county at heart..

….and besides, why do we need to feed the Vultures?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

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Posted in Customer Care, Irish Economy, Irish Politics, Recession, Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

Have a Positively Fabulous Easter!

April 14, 2011
Retail tips for Easter

Positivity? - Why Not !!

Budgets, bad weather, IMF bailouts, things are tough, sales are bad, wages are down, burn the bond holders, senior bond holders, junior bond holders, any bond holders – Oh my God, my head is bursting ! Enough is enough ..

In business all the marketers will tell you about the importance of having a Unique Selling Point, a USP. It is that element that is unique that makes your business special and makes you different to your competitors. In a busy marketplace that can be hard to achieve. In the current climate it can be even more difficult as everyone is afraid of mistakes so we end up playing it very safe, even boring at times.

Now go back to my first paragraph, read it again and then read further on and let’s discover a really simple way to make your business stand out this Easter.

Here goes..

This Easter draw a secret line around your business and make it a haven for all those who enter or deal with over the phone or on email – you are going to give them a gift, something that is quite unique, something that are not getting in most other places. When anyone crosses that secret line they are going to experience nothing but positivity – yep, that’s right simple positivity.

That’s all well and good but how do we do it? – Here is my 10 step plan!

1.       Yourself – You start! ( “Good morning, Greg”)

2.       Your Team – Tell them that negative talk is banned, you want them cheery and bright with customers – watch what happens (have a negative jar instead of a swear jar!)

3.       Bright – You want to see bright merchandise in the windows, bright visuals on your website, bright stock in the stock list, bright clothes on the staff. Buy flowers!

4.       Sales – Increase your sales targets. We all know it’s not easy but tell the team you are budgeting for an increase (let everyone else do the opposite, prepare for the negative it and it will definitely happen)

5.       How to? – Ok, while you are positive you are also realistic. You want positive plans from your team as to how the sales targets will be achieved

6.       Bonus – Promise bonuses for those who succeed, win/win if you make it

7.       What to do with that bonus? – Get everyone in the team to write on a piece of paper what they will do with their bonus (put their private responses in an envelope with their name on it – keep it for them)

8.       Drinks/dinner/chocolates/coffee – When the sales plans are done and the bonuses are decided on do something as a team. Bring chocolates or buns into work.

9.       Customers – treat them really nice, offer them coffee, offer them biscuits. Tell them about the secret line if you have to – they will think you are nuts but they will appreciate it

10.   The World – little enough that you can do about the other stuff, keep it outside the line!

Sorry I have one more tip – why stop at Easter?

Happy Easter!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

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Posted in Business Planning, Customer Care, Ireland, Irish Economy, Marketing, Positivity, Retailing | 12 Comments »

True Heroes of the Irish Economy

April 7, 2011
Resilience - The Broken Man

Resilience - The Broken Man

Sometimes I try to find words to describe what I am witnessing around me and the things that inspire me.

Sometimes you are better off letting the words to those who are in the mix.

In response to my blog “Broken Man – We need him now more than ever” , which received incredible response there is one that just blew me away.

These are not my words they are his – one of those broken men who is picking himself up again..

“Speaking as what you term a “broken man” – I lost everything, dreams out of the window, in debt up to my ears – it took a couple of years to get things back on an even keel and begin to accept the loss but, having done it once, I couldn’t imagine working for someone else again. Working now on a new project with confidence having taken a knock but with my vision and determination intact……..maybe not broken, perhaps just wounded!”

Broken Man, thanks for getting up again

I salute you

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

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Posted in Business Start Ups, Irish Economy, Marketing, Self Help | 8 Comments »

Have you met your “Other Self”?

February 15, 2011
Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich

Napoleon Hill – Inspirational!

I came across this powerful extract in Napoleon Hill’s inspirational book, “Think and Grow Rich” published in 1937, and written with a backdrop of the Great Depression.

“You have been disappointed, you have undergone defeat during the depression, you have felt the great heart within you crushed until it bled. Take courage, for those experiences have tempered the spiritual metal of which you are made – they are assets of incomparable value.

Remember, too, that all who succeed in life get off to a bad start, and pass through many heartbreaking struggles before they “arrive”. The turning point in the lives of those who succeed, usually comes at the moment of some crisis, through which they are introduced to their “other selves”.”

Have you met your “other self”?

I know it is a terrible time for so many people but I would really urge them to dig deep (or even deeper as the case may be), try to look for the positives or the “unique” opportunities and eventually you will find a new and possible very rewarding and fulfilling path.

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion Communications

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Posted in Irish Economy, Personal development, Self Help, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

But you have no experience ..

December 20, 2010
Fuzion Christmas Card

Fuzion Christmas Card - Paul Wade

On the 1st October a really bright young aspiring Graphic Designer called into Fuzion to show us his portfolio. This followed a very courteous email about wanting some work experience at no charge.

The situation is really simple – Paul Wade a recent graduate of CIT, the Design & Communications course, like so many other graduates has no practical work experience. He is looking for a job and of course …. he has no experience!

Instead of this being an obstacle he simply removed the problem by asking us to take him on for free in exchange for “experience” – he has been working and learning under Graham our Senior Designer for the last two months. As he says himself, he has learnt more in these two months than he had in his few years at college.

The one thing we can’t teach him is something he had already in bucket loads – a great can-do positive attitude.

The other thing about Paul is that he also has a job in a local supermarket, which pays his bills.

As soon as the workload permits we would like to take him on here – why? He has a great attitude, he is a nice guy, he has integrated with our team and he has learned a lot.

By the way – the Fuzion Christmas card you can see on this blog – that’s Paul’s work!

Well done Paul for making it happen!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion Communications

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Posted in Marketing, PR, Recession, Recruitment, Training | Leave a Comment »

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