You have been busily building your career or your business and things are going really well for you. Your income has been increasing and the demand for your products or services is strong. The sun is shining on you and everything is going really well when quite unexpectedly your world turns upside down. It may be a retrenchment, a serious illness, a relationship breakdown, or a serious disruption to your business.
The whole world was stunned by the events of September 11, 2001. People’s lives were shattered, livelihoods destroyed and businesses collapsed within hours of the tragic terrorist attacks. The massive unexpected impact of these attacks highlights a vulnerability we all face in our everyday lives and businesses. Months after these attacks, uncertainty and fear have changed people’s behaviour and spending patterns and this has affected many businesses.
Large corporate collapses, natural disasters such as fire, flooding, lightning and massive winds, large staff defections, robbery and other unexpected events can change your world overnight. Events beyond your control may affect you, your business or your marketplace such that what worked for you yesterday and generated your income, may no longer work for you tomorrow.
What do you do when this happens to you?
How do you survive, rebuild and prosper once again?
When things are going really well for us, we tend not to think about such issues. However, it’s worth having a strategy to fall back on if your world is suddenly thrown into turmoil.
Here are some pro-active measures for you to consider if your circumstances suddenly deteriorate.
Firstly, take the attitude that: “even this shall pass.” Remember that the sun will rise again tomorrow and that your problems will pale into insignificance in the long run. Maintain a positive mental attitude and a willingness to overcome your challenges. Look for solutions rather than focusing on the problems. I’m not denying that things may be difficult, in some cases exceedingly difficult. However, how you approach your challenges, will make a major difference to the outcome and the effect on your health and well-being.
Secondly, take a serious look at all your expenses and cut everything that is not directly contributing to revenue and profit generation. This is a very important defensive measure. Look at your liabilities and commitments and negotiate for the return of excess stocks, equipment and supplies if possible. Carefully evaluate each staff position to decide whether it is directly contributing to profitable sales or is essential for the running of your business. Reduce any expenses you can do without.
Thirdly, take a very careful look at your own activities and evaluate how much of your time is devoted to profitable activities. Consciously cut out all unproductive activities and focus only on those activities which lead to increased revenues and profits. Work with your staff to refocus them on the need to generate profits and to eliminate all unprofitable activities.
Fourthly, look at your cash flow position. Make a concerted effort to collect all outstanding accounts and to turn excess stocks into cash as quickly as possible. It may mean increasing your promotional expenditure to generate extra sales. If that is the case, try and negotiate a results based deal that minimizes your initial outlay and pays a higher percentage of your sales revenue for actual sales achieved.
Fifthly, take a serious look at your range of products or services to determine which ones are the most profitable for you. Determine what you can do to increase sales of your most profitable offerings and eliminate those that are less profitable or even loss making.
Next you will need to think about whether the marketplace for your products and services has changed as a result of external factors. You may need to either develop or market new, additional or different products or you may need to reposition your current product range. The quicker you can respond to your changing marketplace, the sooner you will regain your market position and increase your earnings.
You will also want to take time out to do a SWOT analysis. Consider your strengths, your weaknesses, the opportunities open to you that you have yet to take advantage of and the threats to what you are doing. By doing such an analysis, especially if you have just suffered a major hit, you may uncover opportunities you had not previously considered.
In doing your SWOT analysis or your other evaluation activities, you may want to seek some professional advice. If you don’t have them already, find yourself some good mentors and coaches and network with others in your industry or profession who you can co-operate with. Develop a mastermind group around you with whom you meet regularly to discuss new ideas and opportunities. Your mastermind group should consist of people who are better than you at what you do and who earn more money than you. That way you will learn. You also need to look at what you can contribute to them so that they will want to spend their time with you. The book,
Due Diligence Made Simple contains some useful strategies which can help you find appropriate advisers and which you can use to interview people for your mastermind group.
Finally, understand that the best strategy of getting yourself out of a hole is to promote, promote, promote. Look for ways to promote yourself or your business better. The measure of your success will be the sales you generate as a result of your activities.
As part of your evaluation process, you may want to do a major clean-up of your environment. You will probably have a lot of clutter which you have collected over time and which is no longer useful for you. This is a good time to clean up some messes in your life and to move forward.
I have often heard people say that even though they didn’t appreciate it at the time, some of the most difficult challenges they experienced in their lives, were the best things for them in the long run. So, if you are experiencing some challenges right now, think of them as enormous opportunities for you.
Lance Spicer's book,
Financial Crisis – How To Avoid Financial Disaster shows you how people run into financial difficulties, how to get out of them and better still, how to avoid them. It is a must-read for you if you are concerned about money, the economy and the financial security of your family.
About Hans Jakobi
Hans Jakobi is an educator, author and investor. He is the author of six best-selling books including, How To Be Rich & Happy On Your Income which is available at:
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