Business owners in every industry are struggling to keep costs in line with their declining sales.

By Emily Maltby, CNNMoney.com staff writer May 11, 2009: 1:32 PM ET

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (CNNMoney.com) — Behind every statistic about whopping job losses and the shrinking economy are thousands of small businesses battling the everyday realities of trying to survive with less staff and fewer customers. Three weeks ago, a group of entrepreneurs from peer advisory group The Alternative Board (TAB) gathered to discuss their view from the frontline of the recession.

“I’ve managed to cut so much already, but I wonder, what’s left to cut?” asked Ken Villani, president of Cottage Pharmacy and Surgical in Woodbury, NY.

“People aren’t buying breakfast on the way in to work,” said Owen Mester, whose Maspeth, N.Y., bakery makes and distributes yogurt muffins that get sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. “My competitors - I don’t know how - are offering a month of free delivery. I’m not sure how to counter that. At some point, we still have to still run the business.”

Five of the six business owners at the meeting saw their sales fall last year, with the declines ranging from 8% to 40%. Most expect this year to be equally grim: Only one owner thought his sales for 2009 would be higher than last year.

To adjust to the new economic realities, business owners are shaving their staffing down to the bone. Businesses with fewer than 50 staffers have collectively shed 1.4 million jobs in the past six months, according to estimates by payroll processor ADP.

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Government Help for Small Businesses

The Alternative Board CEO, Jason Zickerman talks about the impacts of the government aid for small businesses.

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Why these scions decided it was the best career choice after all

By Jeff Wuorio

JASON ZICKERMAN  - President and Chief Operating Officer, The Alternative Board, a $21 million, 32-person consulting firm in Westminster, Colo.

Jason Zickerman, 40, had more than a few misgivings when his father-in-law, Allen Fishman, invited him to become chief operating officer of The Alternative Board, the Colorado consultancy Fishman had founded in 1990. For one thing, Zickerman already had a job in accounting some 2,000 miles east in New York. But more than that, “I was worried how it might affect my marriage, the great relationship I had with my father-in-law—everything,” Zickerman says. “The business is an economic unit, the family a social one. Mixing them together can really muddy the waters.”

Fishman, who had long been impressed by his son-in-law’s smarts and drive, worked with Zickerman over the course of several months to draw up vision statements that addressed goals and potential issues in exhaustive detail. “We talked about the number of hours we would work, what precisely each of us would do, how it would affect our quality of life with children and grandchildren,” says Fishman, 67. “We basically covered everything and anything that the other person needed to know.” They even agreed on limited participation in the business from other family members, solidifying Zickerman’s authority.

But it was the escape clause that proved most important to Zickerman. If, after one year, either party determined that things weren’t working out for any reason—lack of chemistry, family friction, or something else—their arrangement would terminate. “We came in with a very clear understanding that we would talk after the first year was up,” says Fishman. “If either was unhappy, it would be over.” Seven years later, the escape clause is dusty and unused.

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Now can be a great time to hunt for new customers - but take care to expand cautiously.

By Emily Maltby, CNNMoney.com staff writer Last Updated: April 9, 2009: 5:42 PM ET

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (CNNMoney.com) — Like many business owners fighting the recession, Mark Rickard is looking for ways to draw in new customers. The challenge: How to expand beyond his firm’s traditional services without confusing customers or taking on more than his company is equipped to handle.

Rickard List Marketing is a direct mail marketing company that Mark and his sister have run since their father’s retirement. Rickard wants to use this slow period to rebrand the company, but he has questions about how to make the transition. He’s brought the issue to a gathering of The Alternative Board (TAB), a panel of seasoned business owners who meet monthly to swap advice on their business challenges.

“I believe our core clients would appreciate us making more connections for them, but I expect they would be skeptical about our ability to add value outside our comfort zone,” Rickard says. “I’m not sure exactly what services to offer initially or how to publicize the change.”

“It’s a no-brainer, because you already have the clients,” says Frank Kelly, president of Kelair, a heating and air conditioning company that is based in Port Chester, N.Y. “But what do you actually want to do?”

“I want to do search engine optimization, market research, circulation analysis, media placement, insert media, data managing and processing …”

“Wow,” interjects John Dugan, partner at Farmingdale Physical Therapy. “Rome wasn’t built in a day. You need to build a bigger umbrella before you put all these things under it. Pick the ones that are most secure in this market and the ones that you feel most comfortable doing.”

“Well, my plan was actually to outsource some of the things I don’t feel 100% comfortable doing to affiliates,” Rickard says. “I already have relationships in place with designers and copyrighters.”

Ask yourself what kind of firm you really want to be, advises Buonfiglio, president of employee benefit broker C&B Consulting Group in Syosset, N.Y.

“At one point we partnered with a firm to provide services we could not perform in-house,” he says. “Eventually the clients let us know our partners’ work wasn’t as good as ours, so we ended up creating those capabilities in-house, with far superior results.”

“Do you think I risk clients by expanding like this?” Rickard asks. “Will they think my eye is not on the task?”

Think about the long-term future, Buonfiglio says. Building up new lines of business will inevitably take some of Rickard’s time away from current customers and projects, but that temporary trade-off can be worth it if the expansion will pay off for the company down the road.

“You’ll have to consider opportunity cost versus reward,” he says.

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