Monday Morning Mojo

Economic Slowdown is Good for Business

Here in the USA we are facing an economic slowdown with consumer and business attitudes becoming challenging. All of this is likely to result in a reduction in spending. But, this is good news for those with an entrepreneurial spirit. This is exactly the time when people with solutions will quickly rise to the forefront and turn circumstances to their favor. Here's why:

Customer/member needs are more pronounced.
As times toughen, the actual needs of your target group stand in sharp relief to wrongly held beliefs, illusions, sacred cows, and even day-to-day denial. With the receding tide, exactly what they need in the form they need it in becomes more and more obvious. This makes it an easy target. If you want to help your customers or members, now is the time to identify exactly what will help them most.

Customers’/members' felt need is more pressing.
Not only is it easier for you to see what they need, but it is easier for them to see it as well. And as their self-awareness grows, their desire to address the need grows with it. This urgency provides you with the traction required to make real progress.

Results are easier to achieve.
Results are always easier to achieve when everyone is on board. With the confluence of your intent and their urgent attention, you can rally the necessary partners for joint action. Further, when pain is acute, relief is easier to steer towards. So, you have a good compass to make a real difference. Lastly, things are easier to measure in times like these because everyone is watching their bottom line so closely. This means that the tiniest assuagement registers on the scale.

Real solutions are required.
When times are good, it is easy to get distracted by bells, whistles, and other nice-to-haves. Now results matter. This is the best possible situation for a good provider, because you have the goods.

There is a willingness to sacrifice Sacred Cows.
Typically a chief obstacle for a service or product provider is getting past irrational perceptions of their target group. Solutions may be obvious, but there are ideas, customs, institutions that are unreasonably held beyond inspection. An economic downturn puts the pressure on and sacred cows are necessarily up for reexamination and sacrifice.

morning bugle call

All of this means that your customers are ready to do things differently if the way can be shown. If you are doing your job of providing a better mousetrap, they are primed to listen.

In coming issues of Monday Morning Mojo I will lay out some of the most powerful elements for putting together an effective growth strategy - what it takes to identify options, select those strategies that are a best fit for your organization, and execute for results.

This is an exceptional time for entrepreneurs, a time to surge forward by providing real solutions to customers and members who desperately want them. This is the time that movers and shakers come alive. If there were a bugle to sound for all those who profit through generating real value, that bugle would be playing today!

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