Going through an economic crisis without leaving too many feathers is never an easy exercise. However, some French companies manage to get out of the game, even to come out of these tumultuous periods. Whether it is regional SMEs or large groups, they have in common an ability to anticipate, innovate and act with composure. Understanding the secret strategies of companies can offer precious lessons to prepare for future vagaries on the market.
Diversification, pillar of resilience
Having a single product or a single service can be risky. Companies like Michelin have understood, by gradually extending their range. Renowned for its tires, the Clermont group has developed activities in connected mobility, mapping services or the search for sustainable materials. In times of crisis, this plurality of tenders limits dependence on a single sector and absorbs financial shocks.
For SMEs, diversification can take the form of a new line of products or a geographic extension, in France or abroad. The important thing is to validate the relevance of this development by a market study and regular exchanges with customers and partners. This approach avoids launching at random and guarantees that diversification completes existing activity instead of cannibalizing it.
Innovation as a growth engine
When the economy flakes, the most daring players do not fall back, but invest in research and development to keep a step ahead. Air Liquide, for example, has strengthened its laboratories and university partnerships at each crisis, focusing on hydrogen or medical gases to conquer new markets. This strategy has often been paid, by allowing the group to maintain its status as an industrial leader.
The key lies in the ability to quickly identify opportunities and launch pilot projects, even in a gloomy climate. Companies that dare to innovate during difficult periods sometimes discover unsuspected growth deposits. Thanks to the constant search for differentiation, they attract customers looking for more efficient or less expensive solutions, while ensuring a place of choice when the economic situation improves.
More agile funding methods
When banks tighten access to credit, it is essential to find other sources of financing or to secure your cash. This is the bet that the right corner, French giant of classified ads, diversifying its income and developing high margin services (targeted advertising, partnerships with professionals). Even if the company did not directly undergo the crisis at full whip, it anticipated possible decreases of recipes by ensuring several channels of money.
For their part, some SMEs are focusing on alternative approaches: crowdfunding, fundraising from Business Angels or partnerships with institutional actors (regions, Bpifrance). This financial agility is all the more important since banking negotiations can be long and uncertain. Managing a preventive cash mattress makes it possible to deal with the delays in customer payment and to avoid hasty decisions that would threaten the future of the company.
Reactive and human management
Survival is not only based on financial or commercial strategy: the human factor has more than ever in times of crisis. Maisons du Monde, the furniture and decoration brand, has bet on the responsibility of its teams in store and on transparent internal communication. During the health crisis, this approach favored the involvement of employees and customer loyalty, while maintaining a collective morale essential for recovery.
In difficult times, clarity on the situation of the company, participation in decisions and recognition of the work accomplished can make the difference. An attentive leader who relies on participatory management is more likely to motivate his employees, to arouse ideas on the ground and to quickly adapt the organization. Beyond the simple compliance with procedures, it is group cohesion that ensures the solidity of the ship in the face of storms.
Rapid adaptation to new expectations
Finally, surviving a crisis requires reading the signs of a changing world. La Redoute, a historic figure in correspondence, was able to reinvent itself by betting early on e-commerce and adapting its offer to the world of digital. This transformation, initiated under the pressure of increased competition, demanded a redesign of the catalog, logistics and brand image. Today, the company has become an example of successful retraining, capable of seducing new generations of consumers. Any crisis upsets customer priorities, accelerates digitalization and brings out new consumption behaviors. The actors who set up a constant watch and a listening process (via surveys, customer feedback, data analyzes) detect weak signals faster. They can then rotate their business model, offer new services or meet needs hitherto neglected, garnering a decisive competitive advantage.
