Three CEOs have told me in the last few weeks that they are having trouble getting parts to fill orders. Suppliers, who cut back on staff and inventory, are either still too cautious or just too slow to ramp up. Part of it is understandable. From one end of the supply chain to the other, cautious forecasts beget cautious forecasts and suppliers play wait and see.

Then, when an order comes in, the scrambling begins. Compromises are made, new suppliers are found, and old suppliers lose. Few win in such a scramble.

It is time to anticipate your recovery and prepare for success. People who wait and blame factors beyond their control are not likely to come out on top, assuming they survive at all. 

Here are ten steps you can take today to jumpstart your recovery:

1. Contact your best customers and find out how you can help them prepare for their recovery or continued growth
2. Reach out to the customers of competitors who have folded, shrunk, or are cautiously waiting
3. Build customer relationships and try to understand how changes and trends might affect their future direction and decisions
4. Contact critical suppliers to see if they need help staying healthy and preparing for success
5. Share your hunches, not just your official forecast, with suppliers
6. Share any recession pain in order to retain critical, hard-to-replace talent so you can ramp up quickly
7. Make amends immediately for any unequal distribution of recession pain so that your employees don’t bolt at the first opportunity
8. Anticipate sudden success and create a plan that would allow you to meet customer expectations
9. Get clear about what your customers value and be sure your resources are aligned to meet or exceed expectations; be sure cut backs are in other areas that don’t damage your ability to deliver
10. Step back and examine your strategy to be sure it still makes sense

Don’t wait. Pick one and get started today!