We’ve all heard the old saying: “Hang together or we will all hang separately.” What the kitchen and bath industry has gone through since last fall certainly has driven this concept home. Even for those remodelers who were prepared to deal with the inevitable, cyclical recession, the severity and length of what we have experienced has likely taxed, or even exhausted, those preparations.

With spring turning to summer, it seems we are starting to see the first signs of stabilization, and even hope for the start of a recovery. If you’re still in business as you read this, then your preparation for and actions during the past eight or nine months have served you well. At the same time, most of our businesses have been severely weakened during this period, as cash flow dried up faster than overhead and payroll expenses could be cut. It’s likely you have seen many competitors fall by the wayside, as lines of credit were reduced or withdrawn and cash requirements overwhelmed the ability to meet them.

My last few columns have discussed some steps to take to determine where you stand and ways to evaluate the impact of various strategies for survival. As this downturn drags on, survival is truly the objective, as the companies that do will have much less competition than there was a year ago. Granted, the market will be smaller, but there is a great deal of remodeling that has been deferred over the past 12 months, which is likely to move forward once consumer confidence returns.

So, let’s assume you’ve taken all of the steps to try to match your costs to revenue and still find your business unable to meet all of its obligations. What can you do?

STAYING TOGETHER

The assumption here is that you have cut all of the “fat” from the organization and are down to the core group of people, those who are absolutely necessary for you to continue as an ongoing business once the economy turns around. It’s important for this group to know there will be no more terminations and, if reductions in pay or hours are necessary, this will be done equitably and transparently. In return, you should expect a commitment on their part to stick with the business until things do turn around.

If you utilize subcontractors, meet with them and confirm your firm’s loyalty to them and ask them, in return, to make sure they are doing everything they can to hold their costs down. They should have gone through the same exercises you have to make sure they are operating as efficiently as possible.