Boy, isn’t the World’s economy going for a loop?
While we absolutely have to maintain a positive outlook we simply cannot afford to bury our heads in the sand and hope for the best. We have to take action.
Big banks are receiving billion dollar bailouts to help them through the economic downturn, but that doesn’t help the small business or independent professional. So what are we to do?
I was speaking to a friend who was just made redundant last month due to down-sizing at work. You’d think she’d be depressed and angst-filled. Nope – she has taken it as a golden opportunity to start up her own bookkeeping business and she has already secured enough business (beginning in November) to match what she was earning in formal employment. You go girl!
The secret?
While others are running around in a tailspin, focussing on the negatives and the ‘what if’s’, cutting out the wrong things (like investment in marketing, self-development, strategic planning) and viewing cost-cutting as a primary focus to get them through – she has taken her redundancy payout and invested in setting up a home office and looking for business.
The lessons for all of us?
Reducing costs as a primary focus is NOT what will get you through this downturn. Yes, reduce your unnecessary expenditure on luxuries but don’t make the fatal mistake of cutting back on your marketing and sales budgets, your own training and personal development, or strategic planning initiatives. In fact you may have to increase what you spend in these areas.
This is a matter of life or death for your business!
