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Greetings!
Can you believe it? 2008 is almost over and a New Year is about to unfold before our eyes. For many, 2008 was a year to celebrate. But unfortunately, for most small business owners, the celebrations might have to wait for another year.
A couple of weeks ago, the National
Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) declared that we are now in a
"recession". When I was in the Navy, if a new guy showed up, making a statement like that, he always earned himself a new call sign - MOTO (Master Of The Obvious). Thanks NBER for the news flash. To add insult to injury, when the government tells us that we are in the middle of a recession, it probably cost us a couple million dollars to figure it out. And I suspect it is couple million that could have been used a bit more wisely. So, all joking aside, are YOU surprised by the report? Probably not. The people I talk to everyday have been feeling the effects of the economic downturn for quite a while.
Let's face it, everywhere you look,
businesses, that are far bigger than yours and mine, are collapsing -
declaring bankruptcy and closing their doors - FOREVER. The question is Why?
Believe it or not, it's usually a
combination of ignorance
and arrogance. They didn't do what it takes to evolve in the
ever-changing market place - let alone survive a downturn in their
market. They simply continued to do what they have always done
before - ignoring the changing conditions and hoping for the best.
But, as one of my Commanding Officers used to tell me, "Hope is not a
method." If you want something different to happen to your business this year, make it a goal of yours, commit to it and then do whatever it takes to make it happen. Are things going to turn around over night? I wouldn't count on it. But I will promise you this - if you create goals, build plans to achieve them, and regularly and objectively analyze how those plans are working. All the while making measured and controlled modifications to the plans when they aren't working the way you had predicted, then you will be light years ahead of your competition. And you will certainly be on your way to creating a business, and for that matter, a life, that can weather any storm.
This month's Newsletter is all about what you can do TODAY and TOMORROW to keep your business afloat in the coming months - when nothing is predictable. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!JJ Reich CEO, Impossible Futures A recession is when a neighbor loses his job.
A depression is when you lose yours.
Ronald Reagan
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Video Clip of the Month
A Peacock in the
Land of Penquins
This month's video is again from SimpleTruths.com. This short video is story about bringing new ideas to a culture driven by "Business As Usual". Perry the Peacock tries and tries, but he can't get the big-wigs in the Land of Penquins to understand that innovation and growth are healthy things for all businesses. Enjoy it and feel free to share it with your entire support team.
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Four Basic Business
Principles To Help You
Survive The Recession
by JJ Reich
 The recession is here - but that is no reason to panic. We have been through many downturns in the past and I can guarantee that we will see many more in the years to come. Business is cyclical. There are times of great prosperity - always followed by downturns. Followed once again by - upswings! It is what it is. You can dwell on it and blame it for all your woes. Or, you can take control of your business and make it work - in spite of the current conditions. The truth is - the problem isn't the recession . . . It's how you react to it.
Do you look at the current market conditions as a problem or do you look at them as an opportunity? I, personally, believe they are an opportunity. And I believe if you approach things with the right mindset you can not only survive, but actually thrive. And, in doing so, set yourself up to lead your market when things begin to pick up again. The truth is anyone can survive and grow in a booming market. When there is demand galore, it doesn't matter how you market yourself or how good your product is, someone will buy it. If the growth is strong enough, there are even people who will jump into the fray who have no idea what they are doing. As an example, look at the mortgage industry through the early part of this decade - it was filled with fat and unscrupulous brokers (just trying to make a buck). But when the pendulum swings the other way - oooh, look out. To survive in a recession, you actually need to have business savvy (or at least understand some the basics of business), a quality product, and excellent customer service. Look at the mortgage / banking industry now! Since the collapse of the housing market there are over 200 well
known mortgage companies that have gone under (big and small) - declared bankruptcy and left the business. Do you think they are
the strong ones - or the weak ones? It is true market "Darwinism" -
and the herd has been thinned out. There is no magic way to survive during a recession - it is simply doing the things that every business should do all the time, but most businesses are too lazy to stay focused on - when the cash is flowing in. I've been working with small businesses from varying industries and marketplaces for the past two years. I've also been doing some thorough research on down-turned markets in the past and how best to survive them. The trick to surviving can be reduced to 4 Principles of Sounds Business. Those principles are: - Cash is king! - Take care of your customers or someone else will! - Deliver a consistent product / service every time! - Marketing the smart way!But. . . before I break these basic principles down for you, let me give you one other principle that applies as much to life as it does to business. That additional principle is that all things being equal - there is an inverse relationship between spare money and spare time. It's rare to have both - money and time. So when money is down, you need to take advantage of your available time to make money. And when business is booming, there is rarely enough time to do the things you want to do, but plenty of money to pay someone else to do them. So when sales are down (as they usually are in a recession), and there isn't a lot of work for you to do "in" your business - that is the best time to work "on" your business. And prepare it for the long road ahead. That may sound obvious, but most people don't seem to take advantage of the slower sales / customer traffic to do the work that needs to be done o create new business both today and in the future.
You see, when sales are up, you tend have a lot excess money and very
little spare time. So you spend, spend, spend to get things done. But when things slow down, the opposite is
usually true. The trick is to take advantage of the slow time to improve your business - apply the four principals to your business, survive the downturn and prepare for the big upswing that is forth coming by having a better run business. Now, let's break the original Four Principles down a bit further. To read the rest of the article, click here. |
Four Critical Principals To Surviving A Recession Seminar
Impossible Futures is taking its act on the road.
Starting on January 23rd, we are going start conducting seminars that are intended to help provide small businesses with useful tools that they can apply to their business each and every day.Specifically, we will be going into detail how best to apply the Four Principals to Surviving a Recession. These principals are not my ideas, they are the natural foundations of business success. And when you apply these principals and you truly commit o achieving the goals that you set, then you will not only survive, but you will SUCCEED beyond your wildest dreams. The first seminar will be conducted at the Holiday Inn Express and Suites in Warminster, Pa. It will be from 7:30-10:00am and includes a hot continental breakfast. Sign up today by calling our toll free number, 888-439-6843, ext 101. Seats are normally $80.00 per person, but as a Newsletter subscriber, you get a 50% reduction - that's a $40.00 savings. And because I recognize that no one likes going to seminars alone, any one you bring with you will be provided an additional 50% discount - their seat will only cost $20.00.
Seats are limited and they are filling up quickly - so sign up now.
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This Month's Book Review
The Christmas Sweater
by Glenn Beck
 You won't find a review on this book in the New York Times. Nor will you see any discussion of the book on Oprah - despite the fact that there isn't many more appropriate stories for either of them to touch on. Unfortunately, in my opinion, even though the book isn't at all political, Glenn's very strong conservative political opinions (from his radio and TV shows) have tinted the standard publishing and review community from giving this book any notoriety - good or bad. And in spite of the lack of major support by any media outlet, Glenn Beck's book has to date been either one or two on the New York Times' best seller's list for over five straight weeks.
The truth is - it's a simple book. And it isn't written in fancy prose - that' just not the author's style. And although it is a couple hundred pages in length, I suspect that most people can finish it in less than a couple of hours.
What is different about The Christmas Sweater is the way the book will touch you. And the way you will look at your own life as a result. This is more than just your standard feel good story about Christmas - its based on a true story of the author's personal struggles growing up.
The Christmas Sweater is about the mistakes we all make in life and the storms we face as a result. And it's about cherishing life for what it is - a gift we are given each and every day.
So, although Christmas is over, give yourself one more gift. Give yourself a gift that will give you focus and drive to face your own storm. And that will help you find the personal commitment to find your way through to the other side of the storms in your life. Get a copy of The Christmas Sweater and give yourself a couple hours alone to enjoy it.
You won't regret it.
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Personal Leadership -
Commitment to your Goals!
As a Business Coach, I challenge my clients regularly to look at themselves and ask how committed they are to what they want. Some are honest about their level of commitment, while others only think they are. I can tell the difference right away, but it often takes weeks (or even months) for them to tell the difference.
Getting people to face the truth about what it truly means to be committed is tough. And to be quite honest, as I look back, I'm not sure how committed I have been in my own life - and how much I just hoped that things would work out for me. It's something I work on every day.
Those of you that know me, know that I tried to be a Blue Angel for three straight years. It was a goal of mine. And to be honest, I thought I was committed to my goals. I thought I did everything that I could do to become one - but I refused to look honestly at what I was doing - and my real level of commitment.
If I had truly wanted to be a Blue Angel and was committed to it (willing to do whatever it would have taken), things might have been different. As I look back, I didn't give it everything I had - I didn't do whatever it took. And for years I was bitter about it - blaming the system, instead of looking at where my heart really was. Why I wasn't doing a very obvious thing that would have made a very big difference in my pursuit.
Do I have regrets? Yes. But not because I didn't become a Blue Angel. I have regrets because I created a goal for myself, haphazardly, and in many ways, recklessly, without truly committing to it. And had I achieved that goal, without truly giving myself to it, I would have perpetuated an attitude that would have eventually caught up to me.
Today, in my practice, I define Commitment as the willingness to do whatever it takes within the bounds of your morale code (core values) to accomplish what you set out to accomplish - whether it be a simple goal or a long term vision.
So I work with small business owners and executives - helping them set goals - often prodding them (considerably) to push themselves beyond what they would normally achieve given their current thought processes and actions.
Unfortunately, I have found that most people's commitment to their goals is only moderate at best. They tend to spend more time hoping for their goals to come true than they do taking planned actions to make them come true.
True commitment is hard, but it is achievable. We see it every day - when we see greatness - and hear of stories when people have overcome great odds. However, it is very rare to find without some kind of outside force holding that person accountable to achieving what they set out to accomplish.
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