I’m fed up with hearing predictions of when the economy is going to improve. Nearly every paper I read and everyone I meet seems to believe that it will be two years, three years, five years or more before things will get better and what really winds me up is that they say it with such conviction, not for a moment doubting their forecasting ability. And yet not one person I’ve met actually forecasted the problems we currently face so why on earth should I or you listen to them now? Indeed when I ask these fortune tellers why they think it will be 2/3/5 years they typically can’t offer one reason that can be substantiated – Mystic Meg has more idea in my opinion.
There is always a market and the challenge for most real businesses is to operate within the prevailing market conditions – indeed do we have any other option? Of course there are times to spend and times to cut back, times to grow and times to consolidate, but the option of battening down the hatches and just riding things out isn’t available to most of us – we need to do business. And here’s some good news – for most real businesses, our fortunes have more to do with winning two or three new pieces of business or distribution channels or launching one or two new product lines or capturing a new territory than the current level of interest rates or price of oil. In other words our success is determined by our own effort and achievements regardless of what is going on in the world of high finance. I’m not suggesting the global economy doesn’t impact on small and medium sized businesses, of course it does, however I do believe that our size is our advantage in these times and we can develop new strategies much more quickly than the international corporate giants could ever hope to and more importantly implement them immediately.
One of my clients recently told me that he views this market place as a time of ‘doom and boom’. He explained that while most people seem to be spending their time concerning themselves with things they know little about and can do even less to change he is focussing on developing new strategies for generating business right now plus taking the time to properly plan for the upturn. And this last point is really important I feel. I’m asking everyone I meet four questions:
- Did you see the credit crisis coming? (And most answer “No”)
- Did you have a plan for dealing with it? (And again the answer tends to be “No”)
- Do you believe the economy will recover in time? (And most answer “Yes”)
- Do you have a plan for it? (And the silence is deafening)
Hope is not a strategy. Keeping our fingers crossed that things will improve or not deteriorate further isn’t good business. We need a plan for 2009 that will be different to the plan for 2008 – indeed considerably different to any year so far this century. And I’d like to help you create a highly effective one – actually two.
The first plan should focus on immediate impact – the cost effective and highly effective initiatives you can put in place right now to generate immediate results. As I conduct my HEMP workshops around the UK I’ve seen many resourceful examples including:
non-competing firms sharing exhibition space; businesses recycling existing brochure artwork and amending copy and photographs to create a PDF brochure that appears brand new and round table discussions with clients and journalists generating PR coverage for all involved.
The second plan should focus on the upturn and the initiatives that need to be taken as soon as you’ve spotted it about to occur. Recruitment for example will be much easier if you’re the first to start rather than waiting for when everyone is at it.
I hope I’ve caused you to see this time for what it really is – doom and boom. I think we have two options – either focus on all the negatives and get ourselves and our businesses into a really negative state or alternatively accept the conditions for what they are and put in place strategies to deal with it and to make sure we enjoy boom times round the corner – whenever that might be.
Real Business magazine has asked Peter to run a ‘HEMP for Immediate Impact’ workshop exclusively for our readers and there are just 12 complimentary places available on a first come, first served basis – simply send an email to hemp@phoenixplc.com and you’ll receive full details.
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