As a business owner in this time of economic uncertainty, it's likely that some of your recent workdays have gone something like this: You bolt awake (probably after a sleepless night), grab the financial section of the paper, and turn on your TV to get the latest worrisome financial news. Then, once you make it to work, you lock yourself in your office to carefully examine your spa's financial projections for the next few months, wringing your hands as you fret over every possible worst-case scenario. Sound familiar? If so, it's time for the handwringing to stop—and the smart thinking to begin.

The word 'recession' by itself has been known to send business owners into a panic. Add in all of the economic postulating by the media, and you might find it easy to convince yourself it's time to start counting down the days until your spa's demise. But all of that worrying is counterproductive. You can't get anything done when you're in panic mode.

Spa owners who use their time to improve their business and seize every possible opportunity—rather than wasting it on constant worrying—are the ones who will make it through the economic downturn. Making it through this slowdown won't be a piece of cake for anyone. But if you know the best steps to take, you will be able to come out on the other side of this recession with a very sound business in place. Here are a few tips for steering your business through the sluggish economy.

In business, only the strong survive.

During an economic downturn, many business owners overlook the fact that their competitors are suffering too. The problems your organization struggles with due to the downturn also plague your competitors. Therefore, your strategy for not only surviving the slowdown, but also prospering during it, remains the same as it should be in good economic times: Build the strongest business you possibly can. This means having a strong value proposition, managing in a fiscally responsible manner, and providing great service to attract and keep important customers. Don't let all the hype surrounding the slowdown distract you from keeping these basic tenets in the front of your mind. If you're successful, you'll come out miles ahead of your competition.

Use the hype to motivate your employees.

One positive thing about the fear-inducing hype scaring business owners, executives, and managers everywhere is that in the right hands it can be a great motivational tool for employees. The slowdown creates what I like to call a "momentary unifying factor"—something that allows each employee to set aside his or her individual concerns and rally around a greater common cause. Use the economy to drive home the fact that providing quality service to customers and creating greater effectiveness and efficiency are the absolute best ways for your employees to help the business through the recession. Fear and the desire to keep your business up and running will unify your organization in ways you likely haven't seen before. The challenge is for you, as the leader, to resist being overcome by the same fear, and to present a vision and path toward greater prosperity that everyone in your organization will rally around.

Expand, don't contract.

It seems counterintuitive, but great companies expand during slowdowns, they don't pull back. Remember, all spas are dealing with the same challenges. As a result, the weakest will be going out of business, losing critical funding, cutting operations, and/or letting go of critical but expensive assets and people. All of these things open up holes in the market that a clear-thinking spa owner can fill. As these businesses fail, the market you are competing in may very well contract, and the death of your competition creates holes in your market—ones that your spa can fill—so you can actually expand through the slowdown. When this happens, you will want to be there to snatch up the customers of your failed competition. Be prepared to increase your sales, marketing, and advertising efforts during the slowdown to make sure newly available customers reach out to you first.