If your fiscal year is January through December, you are about half-way through the year. Even if your fiscal has different starting and ending points the year is technically just about half over.

So my questions to you are:

• Are things for your company better or worse than what you expected?
• What changes have you made to adapt to your markets?
• What changes do you still need to consider and execute in order to survive these times?

It wasn't long ago that the U.S. economy was humming along and came to what appeared to be a fairly sudden halt. Some of you have gone through dramatic changes in just a matter of months. The one thing we always knew to be true is now a reality. It is far easier to run a business during good times than bad.

Over the last six months or so we have been trying to help guide you through these difficult times with advice and suggestions. This article is going to recap some of the things we have covered and add a few new helpful tidbits.

One of the things we have noticed in our consulting practice over the last several months is there is more bid activity than normal. If a typical project had 3 - 4 bidders, that number now may be doubled. Consequently, if we examine the odds strictly a statistical level, your chances to win may have gone from 25% down to 10 - 12%. If you are not typically a low cost producer your success rate will plummet even further. If this is the case, you have a few choices.

Gain efficiencies to be more competitive and/or spend more time going after negotiated work. Granted the selling cycle for negotiated work may be longer, however, it is usually more fruitful over the long haul. Believe it or not, there are still plenty of companies that require a high level of service and demand quality. This type of client is not typically served well by low cost producers. If you fit in this group, prepare to enhance your customer service and attention to detail to meet client expectations.