Four Ways to Block the Recession Death Grip
Everywhere we look, we hear that dreaded "R" word. The economy is slowing down, the dollar is dropping, the sub-prime crisis is going to sink the economy. That is just the news that I heard before noon today. All of the pundits pile on. All of the news shows have to run exclusives about how bad it is. Then they get in a race, each journalist trying to get a bigger scoop on how bad things are. And so it goes.... Nothing but bad news for months.
You hear this on the news, in your iPod, on the internet and even at the gas station pump where we can now get video news and audio sales messages. These naysayers can and will suck the life out of all in their range of hearing, seeing, thinking and believing. They will get a hold of you and your thoughts and your beliefs and the next thing you know, you are in a recession choke hold that will suck the air out of your business and kill it. You won't even realize that there are some benefits of economic recession.
You can join the masses and give in to this flock of people who feel sorry for themselves. They accept the fact that things are bad and then they stop putting forth their best efforts. Eventually, it doesn't take long, their business shrinks and they wonder why.
There are many reasons that the flock will give you for why things are going bad "right now." The recession is just another word for an excuse. An excuse not to perform your mission. An excuse not to achieve your goal. An excuse not to do your best for your business.
So what can you do to keep your business alive in this recession? What can you to to survive this recession? How can you stop the recession from knocking you out? This is no cage fight with rules and a tap. This is a game of death. Your business survives and thrives or it struggles and dies. The choice is yours.
The ninja masters believed in finding out as much information as possible before attacking the situation. They knew that nothing is as it seems. This same strategy can work for you.
Find out why you perceive the recession is having a negative impact on your business. Does the recession help you to identify a weakness in your business? A ninja trains hard so that he understands their strengths and weaknesses. There are several simple very useful tools that can help you to understand your business strengths and weaknesses.
Finding out your weakness before a life or death situation can change your life. Finding it out in a life or death situation means that you have to adapt and be fast. No matter which case describes you and your business - once you find out your weakness - fix it and make it stronger.
Do you know why your customers buy from you? Is it because you've got the best product or service in the area? Is it because of your prices? Is it because it is easy to do business with you?
To survive a recession you will have to strengthen your business. You will have to tough it out. Like a human lost in the wilderness, your business may go a long time between meals. It will have to live off of its fat. Make your strengths and your weaknesses stronger if it will help your customers. Here is a great detailed discussion on identifying and strengthening your business strengths and weaknesses.
Once you have strengthened your business you can start leveraging everything that you have worked on. Find more ways to leverage those special abilities that your business has developed. When you leverage these abilities your business will begin thriving in a recession.
Ninjas are masters of themselves. They know what they are great at. You must do the same. Know what your business is great at and then do it over and over and over again.
Keep refining your abilities and servicing your customers. Keep looking at how you are doing and keep working to get better. Keep talking to your customers and getting new ideas on what is really important to them. Remember, your customers are in a recession too.
Art Espey is the business ninja. He is the founder of 4Steps2.com. Art led a company to the Top 100 in its industry nationwide. Follow these principles to lead your business to success. Art can be contacted at www.4steps2.com or 800.474.3610.