Women in small business cutting costs to survive recession

Small business owners know that things have to change when money is tight. But the recession provided some valuable lessons on where to focus spending during these difficult trading periods.

Recent research from the NFIB, Chase Bank and the Center for Women's Business Research has revealed what female small business owners did to keep things moving.

The study found that 45 per cent of female business owners said they had focused on cutting costs, while 31 per cent focused on increasing sales. But overall, the majority of people felt that they had made the right decision, whichever area they had focused on.

Women were also found to have sought outside help in boosting sales or cutting costs, with outsourcing shown to have helped make their businesses more successful than those that tried to go it alone.

One trend that has appeared in the last few years is to engage through social media, something that female small business owners found particularly useful. More than half stated that they see social media as either "very important" or "important" to their companies, while just four per cent had even used it before the recession took hold.

Overall, the study shows that difficult economic periods call for adaptation. But with the right tricks and trades it is perfectly possible to keep things moving at a healthy pace.