The past few years have constituted trying times for small businesses and their owners. COVID, escalating property prices, fluctuating markets, inflation, rising interest rates and more have taken a toll on businesses in general and small businesses in particular.

There’s no better time to get back to the basics. Here are some revival tips and reminders.

Network. Get out and meet other business owners and potential clients. Reconnect with existing clients and customers. Reactivate your memberships in chambers of commerce, economic development organizations and professional and trade associations. Get on the committees and boards of the organizations you support. Go to conferences and conventions. Exhibit at trade shows.

Elevator speech. Refresh your 60-second to 90-second elevator speech. You only get to make a first impression once, so make it count. Focus on the three things you do best or the three types of potential clients or customers you want to meet. Make each word count. Avoid laundry lists of services or products. People remember things best in lists of three — or occasionally four — or less.

Give, give and get. People tend to respond more favorably to outreach and networking if you start by offering or giving something — on at least two occasions — before asking for help, referrals or business. When you talk with someone, focus on that person and not yourself. Ask how their business is going and how you can help them revive and grow. People like to talk about themselves and their businesses and interests. Almost everyone will then ask you about your business and goals. If they don’t, you could always gently slip in an idea or two.

Listen twice as much as you speak. As the saying goes: “You have two ears and one mouth.” Hence the suggestion you should spend twice as much time listening as speaking. Again, people like to talk to other people who ask questions, offer ideas and focus on them.
Do everything possible to avoid talking over someone.

80/20 rule. As you reassess where your business stands and where you want to take it, look at your existing clients or customers and your potential clients and customers. Assign each one a category of current client, prospect or suspect. Keeping in mind that 80 percent of your business comes from 20 percent of your clients or customers, allocate each contact in these three categories to the 80 percent group or 20 percent group. The clients, customers or prospects to focus on will usually be the ones in the 80 percent of revenue group. You might still work with the 20 percent group, but you also might consider referring them to fellow business owners better able to meet their needs.

Revisit and refresh your business plan. An annual review of your business plan and goals is ideal. If you haven’t been doing that review, now’s an excellent time to update and refocus your plans and goals. Your business plan is your road map. You need it to talk with lenders and investors, prioritize activities and expenditures and assess what is and isn’t working.

There’s no time like the present to realign and reinvent your business, preparing it — and you — for the next few years of change.