Economic recessions are impossible to prevent and difficult to predict. That’s why it’s wise to always do what you can to recession-proof your small business.

Though no one can say for certain when the next economic downturn will happen, a survey of 53 professional economic forecasters by the National Association of Business Economics predicts that the economy will grow at a slower pace in 2019 and will slow further in 2020. Here’s what you can do to help your small business weather economic downturns successfully.

Remain Transparent with Employees, Partners, Suppliers

A cohesive employee team is essential to your success, as are your partners and suppliers. While there’s no reason to forecast economic gloom, it’s important that you are honest with all these parties about the state of your industry and the state of your company. Particularly with employees, failing to address economic concerns may provoke rumors and dampen morale – two things you don’t want to do in the face of possible difficulties. And in return, you could reward yourself by installing an employee monitoring software on your employees’ system so that you know those problems aren’t arising from the employees’ end, to begin with.

Ensure Continuing Access to Working Capital

Do what you can to improve your credit rating or keep it in good shape. Use debt judiciously. It’s a good idea to work now to make sure you have access to appropriately sized lines of credit, so that if you run up against cash flow problems you can ride them out more easily. Extending your credit during difficult economic times can be more difficult and more expensive.

Assess Process Efficiency and Modify as Necessary

It’s always a good idea to periodically review your business processes and strive to improve them, but it’s especially important when you’re less confident in a strong economy. Processes that are done by hand or on paper can be made faster and less error-prone by automating all or part of them. Inventory management is another good process to evaluate for efficiency and make improvements to. Such improvements will benefit you whether or not the economy slows.

Optimize Your Debt Collection Process

Having a reliable, fair debt collection process in place now can benefit you if a slower economy should lead to an increase in delinquent payments. You can prevent many debt collection headaches by having a clear credit approval system, a consistently applied process for collecting on late payments, and by monitoring accounts receivable regularly.

A process like the one designed by Rocket Receivables is tailored for small to mid-sized businesses and handles debt collection with expertise. Many smaller businesses don’t have the resources to invest in a strong accounts receivable department, and working with a company that specializes in debt collection for small businesses can ensure they recover more of the money that is owed to them.

Economic cycles come and go. Businesses that are prepared, by keeping lines of communications open with employees and suppliers, doing what they can to ensure access to working capital, and streamlining business processes are better equipped to weather economic turbulence. Rocket Receivables is ready to help, and we invite you to buy now.