Maintaining Profitability in a Declining Market
Decades-high inflation … supply chain issues … increasing oil prices … rising rates. The post-pandemic world is experiencing unprecedented market challenges. Across nearly all industries, it seems volatility is the new normal. And, as companies adjust to doing business in a declining market, many have had to make some costly and difficult decisions to stay profitable.
While market challenges have always been an expected challenge for every business, the world-altering effects of Covid-19 have led to lower revenue growth, declining consumer confidence and slowing demand. In the face of looming economic uncertainty, companies are feeling the impact on their bottom line as they work to survive in a declining economy.
The Push for Profitability
To overcome market challenges amidst the current economic downturn, companies are increasingly relying on three main methods for maintaining and increasing profitability:
- Reducing Spending – With a growing number of economists predicting a recession, employers have responded by announcing budget cuts and layoffs across all industry sectors. According to Fortunly.com, the last week of March 2020 saw more than 6 million U.S. workers laid off, and the trend of reducing staffing and slashing budgets is expected to continue as companies strive to recover from the pandemic.
- Boosting Sales Efforts – In response to the economic strain, many companies are amping up their sales strategies to stay profitable. The post-pandemic climate has forced business leaders to find new ways to push sales and stimulate growth, while also downsizing resources. And, with more consumers preferring virtual transactions over face-to-face interactions, they’ve had to invest considerably in technology to grow sales.
- Increasing Marketing – In order to generate leads, businesses are also dedicating greater resources toward marketing efforts. Now, more than ever, it’s vital for companies to better understand their customers and to align both sales and marketing strategies. By tapping into consumers’ behavior, companies can gain valuable insight, develop a profitable sales strategy, and adapt to post-pandemic consumer culture.
While these methods are reactive, based on market highs and lows, there are other options that businesses can employ in order to ease the adjustment to a fluctuating market during periods of downturn.
The Shift from Fixed to Variable Costs
Another method for building your business to withstand market changes is to maximize opportunities with higher variable costs versus fixed costs. That way, your expenses will naturally fluctuate with the ups and downs of the market. It’s important to look at your specific industry to determine what expenses can be shifted to variable costs, but strategies include turning to outsourcing and offering commission-based pay when appropriate.
Even in good market conditions, most industries, including the title industry, naturally have high and low seasons. It’s just as important to minimize expenses in the low season as it is to maximize your profits in the high season.
A Better Way. The Proliant Way.
Keeping a business going strong in the midst of a declining market is no easy feat. However, there is a better way to overcome market challenges than relying on budget cuts or layoffs or spending vast resources on staffing and technology needs. Enter Proliant Settlement Systems and its turnkey business model.
The Proliant model automatically moves much of your expenses from fixed to variable. Virtually all Proliant’s production services (title, processing, post-closing) are fee for service – so if your order and closing volume drops, your expenses automatically drop correspondingly. Our franchisee title agents utilize Proliant for as much as two-thirds of the work performed, resulting in fewer permanent staff members on their payroll. Therefore, as markets slow our franchisees are not paying excess staff and faced with difficult downsizing decisions.
For those interested in starting a title company franchise, Proliant can eliminate the roadblocks to business ownership. Proliant’s private-label franchise system can dramatically simplify the process of starting, owning, and operating a successful, full-service title agency. Our franchisees have 100% ownership of their company, right down to the name on the door, while we provide the back-end support.
What’s more, Proliant was designed to give title company owners the tools they need to weather the storms of ever-changing markets. Here’s how:
- Peace of mind – Because Proliant only gets paid for the work you send our way; you don’t have to worry about order volumes fluctuating.
- Title production support – We reduce the need to employ and compensate a large staff by providing all our franchisees with title production help and assistance with the title closing process. Every requested property is thoroughly researched by our veteran title staff who then prepare your title report.
- Minimized fixed costs – Our private-label system provides everything from software and technology infrastructure to processing and consultation, thereby reducing your fixed expenses. For example, as a franchise owner, you get all the benefits of a fully compliant, up-to-date, and secure cyber system without the up-front cost.
- A weight off your shoulders – Thank to Proliant’s proven model, you can focus entirely on building your brand and marketing, while we provide you with all the necessary production support.
Keeping your business going strong, despite market challenges, is an attainable goal with Proliant. Contact us today to learn how you can start your own title company with the most difficult barriers to entry removed.