These days many businesses are doing belt-tightening, or in some cases their belt is more like a tourniquet. Depending on whatever it is you are analyzing, cutting it out of your plans and budget completely may be required. However, don’t forget the goals and reasons for those budget items, as there could be options to what you planned that can still lead to fulfilling those goals.

One example is wardrobe. Need a new suit or attire to wear to pitch to a new client? Perhaps shopping on The Magnificent Mile or Newbury Street are not in the cards any longer and even the outlet stores may be out of range, but the goal here is you need something to wear. Have you been to Goodwill lately? Many times people bring clothes to thrift stores like it and Salvation Army not because they are worn or tattered but because they don’t fit any longer. You can find bargains at a fraction of the price of new or the outlets, and after a trip to the dry cleaners it may be just the image you need to land the new client.

For my own Internet consulting business Dunkirk Systems, LLC, some clients and prospective clients have scaled back or altogether postponed Internet projects due to budgets. In these cases, I always talk to the client and discuss with them the original goals of the project. In some cases, postponement is a viable option. In other cases, revisiting them can help come up with options. Maybe a complete redesign of the Web site is out of the question, but additional content or enhancing a portion of the Web site will meet those goals. Looking at your entire operations may also be in order, as a postal mailing could be replaced by an email campaign for less cost.

In tough times a creative brain can costs just as well as a machete and still yield great returns.

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