7 Ways To Grow In A Down Economy

Successful VARs know how to manage cash flow. Indeed, 59 percent of the overall sample said that solid overall financial management was crucial.

Sixty-five percent of hypergrowth solution providers tend to finance their businesses through personal loans, while 54 percent of growth VARs plan to do so through business credit cards. As some banks' lending practices have become more restrictive, VARs have reached out to vendors for help.

"Cash flow is becoming more critical than ever," said Katie Spence, director of U.S. partner marketing at Hewlett-Packard Co., Palo Alto, Calif. "Our new commercial target program provides financial benefit up front. Our partners know going into the deal what is on the table in terms of margin and that helps drive sales. We also offer financial incentives for investing in certain technologies, such as thin clients and virtualization."

Top obstacles to growth are also centered around the ability -- or inability -- to properly manage cash flow. By a landslide, the most often cited challenge (74 percent overall) is that customers are delaying purchases.

3. Set Actionable Goals

Having a clear path to follow is beneficial, said 57 percent of VARs. Hypergrowth VARs were even more interested in articulating goals -- 67 percent said it was important. Often, goals center on extending the sale -- building solutions around a product with a lot of "drag, "or its ability to pull other products into the sale.

"Bring in peripheral services. E-mail-archiving solutions put servers on, storage on -- the thought process is: 'Let's build a solution.' That way, a $500,000 deal constructed as a complete solution becomes a $1.5 million deal," Shook said.

4. Get In Tune With New Tech

Thirty-three percent of hypergrowth VARs and 31 percent of growth VARs said finding technology -- specifically, the next killer application or product -- was one of the top factors for growth. Retaining employees who are trained in that technology also is very important. Overall, 32 percent of solution providers said finding the right technical and consulting employees was high on their list of priorities.