When signs of a downturn appear, company owners begin to look more closely at costs. Understandably so. At the same time, however, it is worth asking another question: how do you prepare the business to win customers, strengthen the team and gain market share in a tougher environment? From my own experience, I know that growth during a slowdown is possible. Its foundations are financial preparation and the right choice of actions.
A slowdown changes the terms of competition
You do not need to predict the exact date of a crisis to prepare your company for weaker demand. It is enough to watch what is happening around the business: whether customers are taking longer to make decisions, reducing order sizes, negotiating prices harder or paying invoices later. Signals like these are worth analysing alongside your own company’s results.
An economic downturn can curb sales and increase pressure on margins. At the same time, it changes the availability of people, the terms of cooperation with suppliers and the expectations of customers. For a prepared organisation, these shifts can become opportunities for growth while the slowdown is still underway.
It reminds me of sport. An athlete adjusts tactics to the conditions and to how rivals behave. In business, too, it makes sense to adjust how you operate when the environment changes. Simply sticking to the existing plan or mechanically cutting all expenditure can mean missing opportunities.
How a manufacturing company took third place in its market
I worked at a manufacturing company that used a period of economic crisis to strengthen its position. Deteriorating market conditions made it possible to build a team of experienced people in a short time. Their knowledge of the industry and ways of working shortened onboarding.
The new salespeople also brought customer relationships that helped win accounts for the company. As a result, the team was able to start working effectively in the market much faster.
The second crucial factor was capital accumulated beforehand. The company could pay suppliers on short terms, which secured lower raw material prices than competitors were getting. That cost advantage made it possible to offer customers lower prices while maintaining an acceptable margin.
In a sharply contracting market, the company quickly reached third place by market share — and held that position after the recession ended. I describe this story anonymously because what matters most is the mechanism: prior financial preparation made it possible to seize hiring and purchasing opportunities that translated into a stronger commercial position.
This example does not mean every company should cut prices. Here, a competitive offer rested on lower purchasing costs. Without that foundation, a price cut would only erode margins. It is also important to distinguish between growing market share and growing revenue: in a shrinking market, the two do not necessarily rise together.
Capital gives you options
If you want to grow your company during a slowdown, start by establishing what resources you actually have at your disposal. The bank balance has to be set against upcoming payments, receivables, inventory and the cost of planned actions.
Check what will happen to cash flow if sales fall and customers pay later. On that basis, define the reserve needed to keep the business running and the funds you can commit to growth. Decide in advance which warning signs will prompt you to scale back or halt new spending.
Paying a supplier faster can improve the purchase price, but it ties up cash earlier. A new salesperson can open the door to customers, yet hiring them costs money before any sales revenue arrives. Every opportunity should be judged through the lens of its impact on both profit and liquidity.
Look for an edge in purchasing and capabilities
Take a close look at the situation of your key suppliers. Assess continuity of supply, available alternatives and the scope for agreeing better terms. Shorter payment terms, predictable orders or a longer commitment may carry real value for a supplier. Any discussion of price should also factor in quality and security of supply.
In parallel, examine what capabilities the company needs to handle a larger scale of operations. A slowdown can increase the availability of experienced specialists, though not in every sector or for every role. It pays to know beforehand who you are looking for and what problem that person is meant to solve.
Before cutting headcount, assess which capabilities are critical to winning customers and fulfilling orders. Take the same approach to marketing: check the effectiveness of activities and their role in sales. Mechanical cuts can weaken the company’s ability to seize the very opportunities you are setting capital aside for.
Adapt your business model and sales strategy
In a tougher environment, customers may judge the value of your offer differently. For some, price will become the deciding factor; for others, certainty of delivery, lower total cost of use or the ability to reduce their own inventory. Check whether the advantage on which you have built your sales so far still matches what they need.
It is worth looking hard at the business model: which customer segments allow the company to make money, what costs serving them generates, and where demand for cash arises. Then choose your directions for growth. That might mean selling more to existing customers, winning over buyers dissatisfied with their current supplier, or entering a segment where your offer has gained relevance.
Watch how competitors react, but base pricing decisions on your own economics and the value delivered to the customer. If a competitor cuts prices, check whether you have a durable cost advantage and whether a given order is genuinely profitable for you.
Translate your chosen direction into action: identify the target customer group, prepare the argument, assign responsibility and set a date to review results. Building relationships still makes sense when purchasing decisions take longer — provided the team distinguishes between opportunities that can be closed now and those that require longer-term work.
Check whether the organisation can handle growth
More customers mean a heavier load across the entire company. After the sale come orders, planning, production, deliveries, invoicing and after-sales service. If information already gets lost between departments today, growth can compound the problems.
Before scaling up, check where the bottlenecks will appear. Does the company have the capacity and skills required? Is it clear who makes which decisions? Are salespeople promising delivery dates the organisation can actually meet? Do you have the data needed to judge the profitability of additional sales?
Start in a chosen area and increase your commitment as results are confirmed. This lets you test commercial and operational assumptions before fixed costs rise. Scaling should increase the company’s ability to serve business repeatably while staying profitable.
Can your team tell you the truth
Finally, a question for the owner: do you have people around you who will tell you openly that the plan is too optimistic, that a customer will not pay on time, or that the organisation cannot cope with additional orders?
A strong leader needs reliable information. Managers’ commitment shows in their willingness to name problems, propose solutions and take responsibility for decisions. A well-prepared team should be able both to seize an opportunity and to explain why certain possibilities should be turned down.
A slowdown can shift the balance of power in an industry. A company that has taken care of its capital, capabilities and operational discipline ahead of time has far more freedom to make use of that shift. In the example described here, it made it possible to win a market position that outlasted the recession.
Prepare your company to grow in tougher conditions
At Zabłocki Consulting, I support company owners and CEOs in analysing their business model, structuring their sales strategy and preparing the organisation to scale. I combine an assessment of growth directions with a practical check on whether the company can deliver them.
If you want to prepare your company for an economic slowdown and use that period to grow, I would be glad to talk. Together we will look at the opportunities, the constraints and the decisions worth making ahead of time.
Grzegorz Zabłocki
grzegorz@zablocki-consulting.pl | +48 888 976 222