Preparing for the Inevitable Recession

By Lauren White, RCS Reporter.

Make sure you’re recession ready with these tips from Ryan Groth.

Ryan Groth, the founder of Sales Transformation Group, Inc., urges businesses in the contracting industry to prepare for an inevitable downturn.  In his video, he shares that he “wants to see you be resilient and make it through difficult times,” instead of having to go out of business and lose everything you’ve built.  

He identifies some variables that can help contractors determine if they’re recession ready or not.  Ryan encourages contractors to think about what might happen if they don’t prepare. He asks, “Will you lose employees?  Will you run out of money? Will you have to close up shop? Will it affect your marriage and implode your family?” These are all outcomes Ryan has witnessed, and he doesn’t want to see that happen to you, your business and employees, or your family.

There are five signs indicating you are NOT recession ready.  The first two signs are, if you have less than six months of overhead in the bank, or if your jobs are mostly unpredictable and you’re not able to hit a forecast.  Third, Ryan explains that you’re not prepared if, “you’re heavily reliant on new construction and weather events (storms)...” He calls this a transactional business model, because you’re bidding on too many jobs that aren’t guaranteed to be there.  Fourth, you and your company are a “one-trick-pony” without diversified skills. Lastly, Ryan shares you’re not recession ready if, “your team is green, untrained, unaccountable, and not strong in selling value.”

On the other hand, if you have six months or more overhead in the bank, you’re on your way to being recession ready.  Additionally, having a forecast, achieving your goals, and having a predictable business model are another way to ensure you’re prepared.  Third, Ryan discloses, “you have a relationship-based business model (you deal with owners of existing buildings).” This is more reliable than chasing storms.  Having diverse offerings such as service, upsells, add-ons, and other trade solutions, is another way to differentiate and set yourself up for success. The final way to be recession ready is by having, “...a trained, accountable, motivated team of selling professionals that you invest into,” Ryan reveals.  As a contractor, you’re investing in training and investing in your people, which is invaluable.  

This is all information Ryan has learned from others and is implementing himself.  While he’s teaching himself to be recession ready, he’s educating others to prepare.  He encourages contractors to reach out and schedule a session with him if they’re struggling with becoming recession ready.  

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