Making Costs Variable

The recovery is weak at best and may, in fact, not be a recovery at all once the 3Q numbers are revised (as they always are). How do small companies respond? One way is to make as much cost variable as possible rather than fixed. Getting out of leases and debt helps. Renting instead of buying helps. And one big way is to move all hiring from regular, traditional employment (a huge fixed cost) to flexible, non-traditional staffing (a variable cost); you may even consider moving some of your current regular employees onto the payroll of a staffing company to save even more money and increase your ability to respond to market uncertainties.