Opinion: Investing in relationships to tackle economic uncertainty

Shane Cowger

This year has brought economic uncertainty on many fronts. Consumers and businesses alike have spent much of 2025 concerned about rising costs, along with inflation and interest rates. As the end of the year nears, there may be resolutions for some of these issues, while new problems may arise in other areas. Many people want to be prepared for everything, and that can be difficult when so much is up in the air. 

From the rise in “I don’t know” answers in this year’s Springfield Business Journal Economic Growth Survey to the mixed economic signals noted in The Cost of Business edition of its Economic Growth Series, published Sept. 8, it seems the uncertainty from earlier this year has carried into the latter half of the year. One of the questions on every business owner’s mind is, “What do I do?” Something that businesses across the Ozarks region seem to be doing is investing in relationships – with their business and community partners, their customers and their employees. With a decent amount of uncertainty still surrounding the economy, now might be the time to make a relationship-focused investment.

When surveyed for this year’s Economic Growth Survey, there was a 19% increase in business owners who answered that they planned to use strategic partners as a source of capital and a 15% increase in those who were planning to use banks as a source of capital. With a fluctuating tariff situation causing uncertainty around material availability and supply chain stability for most of the year, many businesses have had to reevaluate their suppliers and find ways to diversify their supply chain. Working with multiple vendors is a good business practice under typical economic conditions, and establishing relationships with different suppliers can provide flexibility for businesses during disruptions and help them weather uncertainty effectively.

Aside from cultivating and maintaining a variety of sourcing options and suppliers, business owners should also seek advice from trusted partners who can give them realistic solutions based on the specific challenges their business is facing. Businesses that use a bank as one of their sources of capital should have access to insight from the business banker who handles their account. Business bankers often help business owners identify potential cash flow challenges before they arise and help them find solutions before these problems affect their business.

Under normal economic circumstances, customer relationships are a crucial part of maintaining a steady flow of business, and that becomes even more critical during periods of economic uncertainty. Giving customers an open channel to ask their questions, communicate their concerns and receive responses can help business owners provide reassurance, listen to customer feedback and make adjustments. Cultivating a loyal customer base will help provide more stability for businesses in a fluctuating economy. Business owners should aim for clear communication and transparency about price increases, service and product adjustments and other changes to business operations to give customers a peek behind the curtain and maintain their trustworthiness.

Providing quality customer service often starts with hiring and investing in quality people. Business owners need employees they can rely on to handle customer interactions well and make decisions that will help benefit their business in the long term. In turn, people want to work for businesses they can rely on to take care of them. Offering well-thought-out benefits packages, competitive salaries, advancement opportunities and industry-specific training and certifications are all ways business owners can increase interest in working for their company. Quality over quantity is usually a good mindset to have regarding employees, and uncertain economic conditions may mean it’s time to invest in current employees instead of hiring new people. The fewer disruptions business owners face with their staff, the fewer disruptions they can expect to face with their business.

Cutting costs should never have to mean cutting corners, and making investments that focus on improving existing business relationships and fostering new ones is one way to do that. From customers to employees to business partners, business owners should evaluate how well their relationships are prepared to weather continued economic uncertainty, even if the economy stabilizes in the coming months.

Shane Cowger is a loan manager and executive vice president for Arvest Bank – Springfield Region. He can be reached at scowger@arvest.com.