Staying Afloat During Crisis: The Manpower Strategy

Posted by: partygirl on Saturday, July 5th, 2008

You don’t need me to tell you just how different the grocery prices are nowadays, compared to say, a few years back. With the increasing gas prices, the commodities soon followed. And, guess what? We, party planners, are among the ones that are directly in the path of the economic bulldozer.

Granted, our main operational agenda is dependent on our willingness to do all the errands that our clients won’t do. However, running errands per se could mean we have to drive to each location and sometimes even dine out with our clients. Besides those expenditures, we need glue to make party decorations, raw ingredients for cakes and cookie giveaways, and expensive paper to print invitations.

The most saddening part is that sometimes, when belts have to be tightened, our employees do not get the raise that they also need. Is there a way around this? I’d like to think we can give them a small raise to stave off the more debilitating effects of economic crisis. How?

We borrow money, but only under very, very strict terms. One of the major errors in handling credit cards is the notion that you’re not really spending your cash. You are. Yes, you’re not spending your ‘present cash’ but your ‘future cash’. The commitment to pay for the things you borrow now can be too much if it isn’t moderated in such a way that only the basics have to be spent on.

So the strategy is: keep our employees happy so that they are more productive, pile on the projects, and borrow only what we can grow money on. These include party supplies (preferably wholesale) and daily commodities. Maintaining our employee’s peace of mind and economic contentment could mean we have to let go of a few luxuries. But the trade off could be worth it.
During this time of economic strife, our employees are our best bet at making it. We take care of our main assets and scrimp on ourselves ’til things get more comfortable for us.