When the recession really hit in 2009, we decided to tackle the economic challenges head-on. We reckoned that good-quality customer data was going to become scarcer because of the high costs involved in generating it.

So we invested in our call centres to increase the number of agents selling and the volume of records we were producing. We also gave our staff pay rises to instil confidence in our financial position and encourage productivity.

Investing in a recession is ultimately a very risky and bold move, which is by no means a suitable or viable option for every business. But for us it was a risk worth taking and we certainly reaped the rewards.

Between 2009 and 2011, turnover increased from just under £850,000 to more than £2 million.

Other best business decisions:

• External investors bring benefits
• Sideline to mainline
• How do SMEs take the leap and scale with sales?