SmallBusinessNewz

Money's tight out there, and a smart man once admitted (or at least joked) that an unknown half of his advertising budget was going to waste.  Think about that much, and you're apt to take action.  But Steve McKee recently suggested several moves that business owners shouldn't make.

McKee starts by pointing out that recessions aren't permanent.  Realizing that won't change the reality of a situation (whether it's good or bad), but it may help with your outlook.  See that customers realize it, too, and the fact may open their wallets.

As an extension of that, be very careful about cutting marketing budgets.  McKee compares them to muscle (as opposed to fat), and potential customers can never spend their money with a company if they don't know it exists.

Then again, don't get desperate in your marketing.  There are some customers you just don't want, and McKee believes it's better to cut prices than offer discounts.  He writes, "There was a time in the 1990s when McDonald's and Burger King put their Big Macs and Whoppers on sale so often that they trained their customers never to pay full price.  That created a margin problem from which it took them years to recover."

So try not to let old John Wanamaker get to you too much.