The expert stated the risks of falling business profits due to the tightening of tax policy

The tightening of the tax burden, rising inflation and staff shortages have led to lower profitability and the closure of some companies in Russia. Irina Yekimovskikh, founder of the Capital Audit and consulting group, told Izvestia on April 24 about the key mistakes and strategies for business survival in the crisis.

"The most common mistake of a business during a period of falling revenue is an attempt to explain losses by external factors. The second mistake is delaying decisions. The third is the lack of a full—fledged financial picture," the expert noted.

According to her, companies often focus on revenue or cash flow without seeing real profits, which makes it difficult to make timely management decisions. In a recession, this leads to the accumulation of losses and an increase in the debt burden.

Ekimovskikh gave an example from practice: a retail chain with a turnover of about 2.5 billion rubles was able to increase profits by 17% while revenue fell by 13%. The result was achieved by revising the operating model, reducing illiquid balances, redistributing goods, and optimizing fixed costs.

The expert stressed that in a crisis it is important to focus not on revenue growth, but on managing internal processes. In particular, the availability of key products is critical: their scarcity directly reduces margins and turnover.

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In addition, the business needs to review the product range. A wide range of products, effective during the growth period, leads to a freeze of working capital in a recession. Reducing illiquid positions and focusing on high-turnover products can reduce the financial burden.

The expert paid special attention to the cost structure. When revenue decreases by more than 10%, companies must review expenses, otherwise they start working to cover their own costs. The key indicator is the share of costs in gross profit: its growth indicates a loss of business efficiency.

According to her, successful business strategies in a crisis are based on abandoning inertial management, speeding up decision-making and using operational processes as financial instruments.

Nikita Bakhcheev, Managing Partner of Promplan Group, told Izvestia on April 16 that the decline in revenue in the business class segment of the Moscow real estate market is due to a redistribution of demand and a change in investment preferences of buyers. According to him, buyers have become more likely to consider real estate not just as a way to save capital, but as a tool with understandable profitability. As a result, there is a growing interest in more flexible investment formats, which affects the structure of demand.