Cincinnati owners take hard look at game plans
Business Courier of Cincinnati – by Lisa Biank Fasig Staff Reporter
Michael Huffer knew the recession might mean less steak, but he was not about to let it keep him from delivering tuna fish to the business district.
Like most small-business owners, Huffer reconsidered his plans when the economy tumbled last fall. The catering company he co-owns, Apple Spice Junction in Blue Ash, had planned to open a second store downtown. Instead, it settled on making downtown a sales territory and added a “Cost Conscious Menu.”
“We’re an aggressive marketing company to begin with, and we have become more aggressive,” he said. “To go in and expand market share, (it) makes sense in these times.”
The result: Catering orders rose almost 10 percent in March from a year ago.
Huffer is among many local small-business owners who have modified their growth plans. All have realized that to outpace the decline, they must be fleet of foot.
They were interviewed following a national survey by City Business Journals, a subsidiary of the Business Courier’s parent company, American City Business Journals. Among the findings:
• Eighty-six percent say the economic crisis has affected their operations.
• Forty-six percent are concerned about the long-term survival of their business.
• Thirty-five percent are optimistic about their business prospects, down from 63 percent in January.
Such hurdles can hamstring some executives while causing others to stretch further. Rachid Abdallah, CEO of Jedson Engineering in Milford, has a process when planning for his firm, which assesses production capabilities at factories. He sizes up the situation, predicts what will happen and plans accordingly. As a result, clients include only industrial and manufacturing companies – but no auto firms – and Jedson is hiring. It employs 135 people, compared with fewer than 90 a year ago.
“For a growing small business, you should always behave as if there is a recession coming,” said Abdallah.
True enough, being a small company invariably means being more resourceful, said Lori Powers Graf, CEO of the downtown advertising firm Powers Agency. But this year, Powers extended its resourcefulness to landing better deals for its clients.
“We primarily bill for our time,” Graf said. “If we can cut down on some of the time it takes to get to the work, cut down on face-to face meetings … those are things that we look toward.”
Jack Goodwin, president of commercial development at Dayton-based Miller-Valentine Group, said the real estate firm ditched its annual budget for a monthly plan, and executives now meet weekly rather than monthly. “Every week we examine cash flow, budgets, overhead, the whole ball of wax,” he said.
Goodwin sees some “glimmers of light” from the $787 billion stimulus package.
But of small businesses hoping to benefit, few have as much to lose as car dealers. Jeff Wyler, of Wyler Automotive Family, isn’t panicking but has to manage costs.
“Our business, although off 30 percent year-to-date in new vehicle volume, is still selling used cars, and our service business is up about 15 percent,” he said in an e-mail.
Abdallah, meanwhile, wonders when companies of his size will benefit from the stimulus. The focus has been mom-and-pops and large employers, he said, not companies of 70 to 400. “Organizations like us could use some attention,” he said. “We’re the ones that can have the quickest impact on hiring.”
