Seizing Opportunity
Today’s news reporters are littered with depressing stories about the economy: mortgage crisis, gas prices, and foreclosures are increasing while housing values are plummeting.
As a former small business owner of 30 years I often wonder how I would have operated my businesses under the current economic conditions in light of the constant negative drum beats. So I Googled "managing your business in a downturn". What I received was a lot free advice.
Most of the articles the search yielded told me to sharpen my pencil, cut out unnecessary spending, and to make sure you were taking care of your customers. Well the business school I came from taught me to do this during good times or bad. Why must you wait for a business downturn to decide to run your business based on good management?
I was amazed at the majority of the recommendations that suggested that I should look inward in order to survive rather that looking externally for opportunity. In every economy, good or bad, there are going to be winners and losers. I truly believe that the winners will see opportunity where others will sit and wait for the dark clouds to blow over.
Today, I was fortunate to meet with four of our U.S. Chamber members that were selected by the White House to tell their story to President Bush of how they seized the opportunities afforded them by the business provisions of the recently passed economic stimulus package. Do you know the one thing they all have in common? They were optimistic, forward thinkers that have not let the negative news dampen their entrepreneurial energy to capitalize on innovative ways to grow their businesses and make money. Each one of these business owners were bubbling over with enthusiasm and confidence. All of them were telling stories of growing and expanding their businesses and hiring new workers. When I left the room I found myself wondering if they were reading the same newspapers I was.
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