Mentoris writes: Thriving in a downturn

With cost-of-living issues beginning to bite, whether we technically have a recession or not, most commentators agree we are in for some economic turbulence. Optical practices I speak to are already seeing evidence of patients deferring their examination, lowering their spend or ‘shopping around’.

In my 35 years running optical practices, I have seen many ups and downs. It is clear to me that economic cycles come and go much like the seasons, and that downturns are a natural stage of this cycle. So, the question we need to answer as business owners is not whether we will have a recession but what we are going to do about it. I have highlighted below five strategies for helping you identify how a downturn might affect your business and how you might handle it. I hope you find these useful.