Every April ManagementOne® holds its annual meeting where many of the affiliates meet and share their experiences of success with their peers. Even a year ago, M1 could see the signs of impending tough economic times so the group discussed methods to help prepare their clients. With changing markets, everything changes. That means working to adjust budgets and infrastructure to match forecast sales and revenues. Businesses need to understand their financial statements and how they are changing. Now, more than ever, tight cash flow management is absolutely critical. How recent was your last break-even analysis? Who determines your weekly check run? Some changes will be difficult but necessary for success in the long run.

Another point that M1 has been stressing is to be careful about marketing cutbacks. Successful retailers are those who fight hardest to provide what their clients want. Not all the competitors will survive. The best marketing will attract those shoppers who would have shopped with competitors who didn’t make it. Since the last meeting, affiliates have been sharing creative client ads, events and marketing ideas.

Next month will be the 2009 ManagementOne® meeting. With the economy difficult to predict, more ideas will be discussed and analyzed to help our clients and keep them in business. Changing times call for changing measures!