Frooition has suffered with redundancies in the last 18 months loosing approximately 7 of its members with Gren making 8.

If Frooition does go under then my 3 clients who use their design will loose it, just as they are about to pay up for the shops upgrade. I already have concerns over the stores working with the European eBay sites.

Worrying times. Looks like I am going to have to focus on creating a compliant store design (which will all be open source) that fits in the new eBay experience and re-work. Templates too.

I do wonder where I am going to get this time from. I suppose I have always known the danger of renting design, it just comes at a busy period when I am clocking up 13 hour days.

So far with my business I have seen no economic slowdown, not even the usual summer slowdown. It will hit all business in the end even the very small freelance sole traders. There are things you can do now to save money and ride the storm.

1. Find out how YOU are affected.

Do not believe sweeping statistics from the media. Christmas is coming up and will be a great indicator of how your category is going to fair against last year. You did get your stats together finally last year didn’t you?

2. Be wise with investment.

Invest for longevity, don’t just take the cheapest investment as a quick fix. 9 times out of 10 you will need to re-invest sooner than you think! If you don’t have the money for what you want now, don’t invest yet. Take your time.

3. Invest in yourself and your employees.

Trained employees are more productive and motivated, but how about yourself or if you have no employees? How about a book keeping course? The less time your accountant has to fiddle around with your invoices the cheaper their bill. Stuck with numbers? How about a Learn Direct Numeracy course? You have seen those weird hand adverts right?

4. Be eco-friendly and pocket friendly.

Invest in energy saving light bulbs, only buy the most energy efficient electrical goods. Start a ’switch off’ campaign in your business. Switch off your PC when going to lunch, and most importantly over night and at the weekends. This means no standby lights, and switch off at the plug. Invest in re-usable items, glasses for the water fountain and not plastic cups. Cut down on paper, and print heavy invoices. Printer ink is more expensive than oil, and do you really need all those fancy colours on your invoices? Would black and white do?

5. Re-evaluate subscriptions.

Do you really use your subscriptions? Have you in the last 3 months? If not, they are not worth it. Don’t be lazy, cancel and save a few pounds.

6. Be more strategic.

Fees are a killer, eBay fees, marketing fees, fees to third party companies. Be strategic with the fees you can not afford and take some time to learn about managing your own marketing. Lots of SEO is free, and only takes time. Could you or one of your employees build the skills to take it in house?

7. Go global.

No one has mentioned a global recession have they? If you don’t already, advertise and ship goods/services abroad.

8. Be transparent with employees.

If you are doing well, share the love. If you need to make savings, make sure your employees know this so they can help with savings too. They will have some great ideas to save money.

9. Hold a stationary amnesty.

You would not believe the hoarding of stationary that goes on. Get it all together, see what you really have and only order when you are low, not just when people have raided the stationary cupboard and its all in their draw unused.

10. Finally, adopt a no credit policy. Keep a good cash flow.

If you have not made the money to cover the next purchase of stock, then either don’t buy as much or re-evaluate what sells and what doesn’t. If you have some dead stock and even eBay won’t shift it, don’t waste more fees and just car boot it. Get back the cost value to re buy effective stock.

Do you accounts every month (hopefully yourself?) so you can save exactly what the tax man needs. If you are a sole trader then this site http://www.listentotaxman.com
is a great resource to see how much the tax man wants year on year.

Above all be positive, don’t waste and be money smart. Do you REALLY need all those different coloured return address labels professionally printed? Can you print your own?

Happy credit munching and look forward to a sustainable future!