February 2, 2009 – 4:51 pm
In doing seminars for businesspeople around the country over the past few months, I have found that most of them were in a state of shock to a greater or lesser degree due to their uncertainty and fears regarding our economy.
President Roosevelt once said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” Along this line, one of my most popular recommendations has been that people need to unplug themselves from the “matrix” of debilitating bad news continually spewed out by our media. I recommend that they do it for just 2 weeks and see how they feel. Turn off TV and radio news, avoid the newspaper and news magazines.
Then plug back in for a week and do another reality check. Then decide what works best for them and their business.
In my seminars, I often mention a popular book, Who Moved My Cheese, By Spencer Johnson. It is a clever little book that offers insight into how we deal with change. The basic message is that “when your cheese is moved,” in other words, the source of income dries up, the wrong thing to do is to freeze up with fear and apathy, and the right thing to do is to go find more cheese. It is based on a very important premise – there is always more cheese to be found – if you look hard enough.
Unfortunately, too much bad news knocks people out of the race.
The key question is, does this simple no-cost solution of unplugging from the matrix actually work? Recently I did a survey of a cross section of companies where the owners share my viewpoint on reducing or eliminating their exposure to the bad-news media. Were they still lamenting that the cheese had been moved, or were they busily and successfully seeking new cheese?
The companies I surveyed included a wide range of service industries, from computer help to office cleaning, practices in the health disciplines for both humans and animals, education in formal and informal settings, companies in the marketing and communications industries, accounting, tax services and investment. In short, a good cross-section of what has come to be known as Main Street USA.
After coming off the diet of bad news, the great majority of the companies I surveyed (89%) are very busy securing a new stash of cheese (revenue).
I highly recommend that this be your first line of attack as well. The other common denominators between these owners are worth paying attention to if you want to make sure that your company weathers the recession by finding a new stash of cash.
1. Their interest in their companies remains high; each one of these owners expressed that they are deeply engaged in the activities of their firm, practice or company. They are not pulling back, they are baring down hard and pushing every aspect of the company to perform.
2. Though they mention that there is more stress than in a better economic climate, they do not agree that the recession is unmanageable.
3. The majority admit that their customers and clients are affected by the recession, which makes the customers less willing to loosen their purse strings. But they answer this by increasing their marketing efforts and demanding more skilled sales personnel. As I cover in my seminars, there are many studies that confirm this as the correct approach to winning during a recession.
4. They express that they have options and are interested in exercising them. They are working for an improved scene and are not looking for a government handout.
5. Most of those surveyed have a clear idea of the benefits they want to realize and are confident that they will gain these benefits. One exception said that he can’t quite put his finger on what the benefits might be but says, “I know they will be there, just not spotted yet.“
Here are some additional tips and comments from the owners that I surveyed.
a. “I have found that when I lighten up in my own attitude I can produce more, and if I come across something that I haven’t done before, instead of passing it by, I take it on.”
b. “I am actively working on a new marketing campaign to upgrade from what we have now.”
c. “I am putting in more personal time, and I am using that time to get out a lot more communication about my company to current and future customers.”
d. “We are making sure we keep doing what we have done in the past, but we are also paying very close attention to what we are doing so we know what works and what doesn’t.”
e. “I am actively looking at how I can expand my operation.”
f. Several owners say they are concentrating on how to increase production and also increase the amount of promotion they are getting out.
g. One owner is looking specifically at how he can align his marketing to the recession to take advantage of the specific problems that it presents and how to solve them.
h. Others are concentrating on improving specific skills so that it is possible to produce a better product than before.
i. A recurring answer was that at first the owner was worried, and then he realized that that is all that it was, worry, so he stopped worrying and got busy, and things were better immediately.
There is one more factor that is very important. The company owners surveyed adhere to sound management basics that I am very familiar with. In fact, I have used these same basics to consult business owners form more than 30 years. I feel it is the primary reason they were not at a loss of what to do. Having a system of management, they are not resorting to random actions hoping that they are right. Having seen hundreds of companies through recessionary times, I am very aware of how vital a management system is. In fact, it can be the difference between weathering the storm and going down. It adds increased ability to find and acquire new cheese once one regains the willingness to look for it by unplugging from the hammer-pound of bad news.
No question, we are all on a slippery slope right now, but it does not mean that we cannot make headway toward our objectives if we guard our attitude and apply sound management principles. Whatever you do, don’t waste your time wondering “who moved your cheese” until you’re snacking on your big pile of NEW cheese.
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