Andrew Griffiths
Going into Christmas there is a lot of news coming from Europe about GFC 2.0 and its dire implications for the rest of the world. I thought I would just do a very short piece on my thoughts around this, just to add a bit of perspective and to give Small Business owners some direction.
The reality is that there is not much a small business can do about the events of the world. So if we can’t control what is happening outside of our business the only thing we can control is what is going on inside our business.
I believe that now is the time that we need to be investing in our business however we can, and that investment might be time, it might be money or perhaps just a good old fashioned dose of energy, to ensure that as the economy improves and people start to increase their spending, your business is ready. And if history has taught us anything, every dark economic period is followed by a period of plenty, its just a matter of how long it will take for the cycle to change.
Sure it has been hard, but sitting around moaning about it won’t do a single thing to improve your business. Sadly way too many businesses have slipped into this learned helplessness state of mind. It is only a short leap from here to closing the doors.
Right now there are businesses doing really well, in fact lots of businesses that I work with are having record years (but they don’t like other people to know about it). If you look for the common characteristic that these businesses share it’s the fact that they are too busy getting on with it to buy into the negativity and moaning.
It doesn’t mean they haven’t had their challenges, or that they have their head in the clouds, but they are taking a proactive stance, investing in their business, themselves, their staff and their customers and getting quite amazing results.
I suggest that that this is the best plan of attack for any small business owner.
