Ad agency, media agency, creative agency and even PR agency are affected by the economic downturn. With dwindling advertising budget and a scale back of sport sponsorships, our business is adversely affected. Just like one of my peers said, “The client can be asking for too much. Increase quantity. Increase quality and then asked me if the price can be reduced. I have cost too.”

I agreed that’s not fair but it’s not unreasonable for the client to push his luck. Many agencies who were desperate to retain clients are known to give ridiculous discount. The client has a right to ask. The worse case scenario for him is just a “no”.  Just like my friend who has a substantial overhead for his creative agency, the client is worried about his bottom line. Already retailers are complaining that Christmas sale took a dip of 30-40%. The most pathetic feedback I heard so far from a roadside vendor was that he only made a profit of $5 after tending his store for 16 hours. Sure, he was selling low ticket items like snacks and newspapers. But that tells you that people is scaling back on buying small items too. So small and big businesses alike are worried about expenses, cost and bottom line now.

One financial adviser said during a economic slowdown, it is best to send your staff for training or re-training so that we can maximise them when the good time comes. And for bosses, his advice was to upgrade our knowledge especially in financial matters. He lamented that some senior managers don’t even understand what the numbers say on the P&L sheet.

Perhaps like Vivienne suggested, it is best to look at our own financial blueprint and knows our own wealth dynamics to understand if our financial habits empower or destroy our financial well being. Instead of scaling back, she is attending seminars and workshops to tide her over the financial tsunami. If you believe that is a wise move, then I suggest you take a look at THE BOTTOM LINE, a workshop she just signed up on Christmas Eve. It;s about how to manage your flow to make more profit with less stress.

Me? After checking out the testimonial, I’m doing my best to get the boss to sponsor 1 or 2 of us to go sunny Singapore to fix our flow. After all, it’s essential to have a healthy bottom line regardless if the economy is up or down.