How to prepare for a recession: 3 ways our EAs help us stay ahead

Recently, my co-founder Fineas Tatar forwarded me an article by David Politis called This is Wartime on the topic of How to prepare for a recession. Reading it made me nervous. The article focused on the macroeconomic uncertainty that companies – and therefore founders and executives – are feeling right now. 

“Assume the worst and start taking action now.”

When I read that, it was clear that we needed to be more proactive in our risk management approach. First, we shared the article with our EAs and leadership team so we were all on the same page. Then, our EAs scheduled a meeting with our leadership team and created a Notion page with pre-work to be completed.

Table of contents: 

1. How to prepare for a recession? Communicate with your team
2. How to prepare for a recession? Meet with your customers
3. How to prepare for a recession? Reduce your recurring expenses and projected spending
4. Key takeaways

We came up with a long list of potential initiatives that we could implement to grow revenue and manage spending, but each one was an approach that didn’t fall perfectly within the scope of anyone on our leadership team. 

That meant each initiative was perfect for our EAs, our team members who are able to wear any hat and get things done. They could lean on the expertise of our leadership team while driving each task forward with full focus. Here are the top 3:

1. How to prepare for a recession? Communicate transparently with your team

One of my colleagues taught me that the best way to drive progress toward a goal is to make sure everyone is aware of that goal and how they can help. Why navigate the waters on your own when you can have everyone rowing in the same direction?

My EA drafted a message for me to share the “This is Wartime” article with our team. She then created 3 slides for our next townhall:

1. What’s happening in the market
2. How can we look at this: Panic → Prep
3. What we’re doing as a company

This update put our entire team on higher risk alert and activated our collective problem-solving mode. They appreciated the transparency and felt comfort and motivation knowing that we involved them in the solution.

2. How to prepare for a recession? Meet with your customers

Revenue growth and retention levers are often overshadowed by cost reduction levels during recessions. It’s critical that you don’t lose sight of revenue, and the best starting point is to focus on your existing customers.

Acquiring a new customer can cost 5-7x more than retaining an existing one. Nothing beats spending real time with your current customers, but it might also be the most challenging time for them to meet with you. Enter your EA. How to execute?

1. Create a list of customers you want to meet. Categorize them however you’d like. Some possibilities include: MRR and customer health score.
2. Send them an email and cc your EA. It’s even better if your EA is the one sending these emails from your inbox (that’s what we did). You don’t need a detailed agenda. It just needs to be a founder/CEO to founder/CEO request for time that’s focused on them: the customer.
3. Delegate scheduling of meetings and travel planning to your EA. Meetings don’t have to be in-person, though – in our case, we met some customers virtually and others in person.

The goal is to support your clients by understanding how they can get more value from your product or service with their existing subscription. That way, there’s no upsell. It’s a conversation focused on value maximization. They’ll appreciate that. I know I would.

3. How to prepare for a recession? Reduce your recurring expenses and projected spending

We were surprised by how much recurring spending we had racked up. We had unused licenses and overlapping platforms, so my EA took the lead. If you’re in the same boat, your EA can: 

1. Export all operating expenses from accounting software (e.g. QuickBooks, Xero)
2. Export all expenses from credit cards (e.g. bank, Brex, Ramp)
3. Create a Google Sheets workbook with all consolidated operating expenses; this should include the following columns
   • Vendor Name
   • Description
   • Category (e.g. Sales, Legal, etc.)
   • Billing Frequency
   • Monthly Cost per User
   • Total Monthly Cost
   • Total Annual Cost
4. Review each expense line-by-line and fill out two additional columns:
   • Criticality: Critical or Non-Critical
   • Zero-based Budgeting Decision: Keep, Cancel, Reduce, or Negotiate
5. Assign an owner to execute each budgeting decision
   • Cancel: Inform current users of the decision and rationale
   • Reduce: Ask current users to confirm if they need the tool and why. Remove seats for those who do not need the tool or do not respond
   • Negotiate: Determine if you can switch to another tool or eliminate the tool entirely. If it’s needed, determine which variables you can negotiate on. For example:.
     • No flexibility. Ask for a discount only. Consider offering a testimonial, referrals, etc. (it should be something they care about) in exchange for a discount.
     • Flexibility on something (e.g., billing frequency from monthly to quarterly)

My EA was able to complete all the steps above except #4, which we did together. 

Key takeaways

• Share the economic context with your team early so everyone can align and act quickly.
• Executive assistants can lead strategic initiatives that fall outside the core leadership scope.
• Clear internal communication helps teams feel empowered and prepared during uncertain times.
• Meeting with existing customers strengthens relationships and uncovers ways to drive more value.
• Reviewing and reducing recurring expenses can reveal significant savings, and EAs can lead the charge.
• With proper context, EAs can manage cross-functional projects and execute them with minimal oversight.

Don’t wait for things to get worse. If you’re not actively preparing for a downturn, you’re already behind. The right executive assistant can help you take action now before it’s too late. Book a call today and get the support your business needs to stay ahead.

Adnan Khan

Adnan is a Co-founder & co-CEO at Viva, where he oversees the People and Customer Success functions. Prior to Viva, Adnan was at Deloitte Consulting, where he was exposed to many key ingredients for his Viva journey, including executive assistants, Latin American talent, and remote work. Health and family are Adnan’s two biggest priorities outside of his career. He enjoys playing squash, running long distances, and cooking. Quality time is his love language and he likes to spend his time with his wife and son. Adnan writes frequently about leadership, delegation, and executive assistants on the Viva blog.