Introduction
The article ‘SMEs Tell Us How They Survived the Recession’ was published by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (2012) on its website. The publisher attempts to present how SMEs can use certain strategies to survive harsh economic periods.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is an independent organization driven by entrepreneurs, and aims at giving first-hand information to the business and general community in Canada. The purpose of this paper is to review the article by CFIB and make recommendations on its possible use in business management.
Analysis
I tend seek to agree with the research findings in this article based on a number of reasons. First, in this article, the report developed by CFIB in 2012 tends to reflect on how organizations can use certain strategies to achieve growth even when an economic crisis is looming. This is quite agreeable because some business owners are likely to see an advantage of making growth when their colleagues are suffering from the crisis.
Although there are few such opportunities, the article by CFIB indicates the actual happening during the period. In fact, it is worth agreeing with these findings because some SMEs actually reported growth during the hard economic times.
In addition, the article is credible in making it clear that even the business owners who saw opportunities to improve their growth were also affected by the same problems affecting their colleagues, including the rate of taxation and premiums.
Moreover, I agree with the results based on the study design the CFIB carried out in this case. In fact, the design is empirical, and reports the findings of a research it had carried out to examine the different strategies that SMEs used during the economic recession as a survival tactic.
Titled ‘Survival of the Smallest’, the research interviewed its members on a nationwide level, obtaining more than 300 comments. In this report, four categories of survival tactics were identified: the behavior of the business owner, employment and staffing strategies, sales and marketing strategies and focus on new and existing markets.
Secondly, I find the information in this article useful for a number of reasons. For instance, it is worth noting that economic recessions have negative impacts on business organizations. For example, the article clarifies that most of the respondents in the study indicated that the recession in Canada was actually a painful moment for most business organizations, including the SMEs.
The information on the strategies that SMEs’ owners used is useful in making policies in business and economics. For instance, I find it useful to note that the study shows how most SMEs’ owners tried several methods to bear with the economic pains than did their employees. In addition, although owners took careful steps in cutting business and personal expenses, some saw the opportunity to explore and utilize their markets.
In fact, this category took many business owners, with both positive and negative impacts on individual businesses. According to CFIB (2012), the answers given by the respondents in the study indicated both positive and negative impacts of falling into the category of business owners who ‘saw new opportunities’ in their respective markets.
According to the study, the group that indicated positive results on falling in this category is the ‘growth oriented enterprises’. It was realized that its members requested the same things that other members of the study had requested.
For instance, they complained of taxation and increase in premium in all the three levels of the Canadian government. They indicated that even though they had obtained some benefits during the economic recession, they were equally hurt by the increasing premiums and level of taxation on SMEs.
This article is recommendable for use by SMEs’ owners in Canada and other parts of the world for a number of reasons. First, it indicates that although an economic crisis hurts almost all business organizations, taking the advantage of the situation to note new business ideas in the wake of the crisis could protect a business organization from economic harm.
The article informs SMEs’ owners that even during the crisis, it is worth looking at the business environment to determine certain opportunities that others cannot see and use them as a business survival tactic. In fact, reading this article would provide make the SMEs’ owners realize that even though SMEs are the hardest hit when an economic crisis occurs, they may also survive just as corporations do.
In conclusion, the article seeks to enlighten owners of SMEs in dealing with economic crisis. In addition, the article provides empirical evidence based on the reports given by the respondents.
SME owners should note that even if the increased in premiums and the effect of government taxation affects all the businesses, looking for opportunities in the business environment could protect them from a crisis, despite the nature and size of their organizations. Therefore, I would recommend business owners and managers to read this article in detail in an attempt to protect themselves from future economic crisis.
Reference
Canadian Federation of Independent Business. (2012). SMEs tell us how they survived the recession. Retrieved from https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/en/research-economic-analysis