Identifying divestiture opportunities now can avoid the fire sales that more deep-pocketed and aggressive companies hope to snap up during an economic slowdown. Monetize intellectual property. Companies may be able to generate significant cash flow by identifying, protecting, licensing, selling or contributing intellectual property, one of the most valuable assets of many businesses, to an alliance or joint venture. Manage and restructure debt. Avoid the coming credit crunch by restructuring debt to gain market advantages through longer-term maturity dates.
International operations are often a source of untapped funds.
Identify opportunities to use income from overseas operations to fund strategic initiatives. Flexibility will be the key. With the economy volatile, customers are likely to slow their purchasing, and new customers may become more difficult to identify. Companies with strong revenue goals must try to identify new revenue channels, while addressing the need for flexibility. Each of these functions can be performed more cost-effectively by external providers, but only if outsourcing is used to maximize the value of your people by focusing their energy on more pressing needs for enterprise growth Companies that are slow to move or to recognize the market's expectations for change in their industries, regardless of prevailing economic conditions, will continue to lose market support and value to more nimble competitors.