In
This Issue…
-
It's
Not Dead Yet
-
Tip: How
to Boldly Go Where Others Fear to Go
-
Humour: Thinking
Out Loud
================
It's
Not Dead Yet
================
When I was
younger, I used to play rugby. It's very
similar to North American football, but
there's no equipment worn. Ouch. One
game, our team captain,
who was a tough
little guy, was matched up against a much
bigger, faster
and stronger
opponent. Our captain was getting battered
and bruised, but
continued
valiantly. As we approached the end of the
game, our captain
got levelled.
His bigger, faster, stronger opponent had
aggressively tackled
him, and
it looked like
our captain was down for the count.
I motioned to the
sidelines for a replacement. As the captain
lay on his back,
hardly able to
breathe, he shook his head and gasped, "I'm
not dead yet."
This story has a
good correlation to today's business environment.
Outsiders,
especially the
media, are type casting doom and gloom for the
economy.
So, what's the
real truth?
The economy took
a major hit in September due to Lehman Brothers
and
Washington Mutual
closing their doors. There was a huge
trickle down the
banking chain to
banks all over the world. Investors ran for
cover, and
stock markets
tumbled. Businesses are having a harder time
getting
investment money
as banks tighten controls on permissible loans.
But the economy
is not dead yet.
Plenty of
businesses continue to do well. The media is
good enough to
include the good
news stories, but they're often lower down the
page than
the doom and
gloom. As we all know, businesses don't mind
when the
media is focusing
on bad news.
Businesses
survive by taking risks. Not all projects
succeed. So businesses
are often trying
to hide any bad news from investors, customers and
employees.
This is much
easier to do when the economy is perceived as bad.
So, it's
easier
to stop investing in certain processes, products
and sometimes people,
when the public
think we're suffering through a bad economy.
Business leaders
have to remain careful.
As businesses
start telling customers, investors and employees
that
we're in a bad
economy, the business leaders may start believing
it
themselves.
Some go beyond trimming the fat, and, sin of all
sins,
start taking it
easy while the economic cycle is low.
Times like these,
however, call for bold actions.
While your
competition is trimming its fat, and probably
trimming
its sales and
marketing budget, it's a great time to venture out
into
new markets.
People and
businesses are still purchasing.
The competition
may be laying back.
Make a bold move
now.
===========================================
Tip: How
to Boldy Go Where Others Fear to Go
===========================================
Being bold has
been a sign of great leaders since the days of
Alexander the
Great. While others retrench due to an
economic
meltdown in
certain sectors, be a bold business leader by
taking the
following steps to ensure your ability to
capitalize
on current conditions:
1. Connect
better with clients. Bold
business leaders
have great
relationships with their clients. When things
are
going rough,
people tend to hibernate, while they should be
communicating
more. Take this opportunity to strengthen
relationships
with your customers by communicating more
often with them.
While they may not be able to purchase
as much of your
product now, they will be better customers
in the long run
if you continue to communicate through the
bad and the good.
You will also be able to better predict
their future
spending habits with a great relationship.
2. Increase
Value rather than cutting prices.
If your
customers are
starting to mention the effects of the current
economic cycles,
you should resist the urge to reduce prices
to meet their
situation. Rather, find innovative new ways
of
adding to the
value you deliver.
3. Invest
in Growth. If everyone is being bit
by an
economic
downturn, you can get more bang for your
investment
dollar. Training and new product development
should be less expensive
now, as less people are spending
money and costs
are remaining constant. Similarly,
marketing budgets
are usually cut first. So, you'll be able
to reach more
customers for less money now. If your
company is big
enough, start looking at acquiring smaller
businesses, which
may be a great value-add for your clients.
4. Stick
to your Brand. As money becomes
harder to come
by, your
customers and prospects are spending more time on
buying decisions.
That means that they'll be reading and watching
more to see what
your company represents. Now is not the time
to change what
you represent. Stick to what got you here.
5. Stick
to your Strategy. Similarly, your
tactics may change,
but a possible
downturn is not the time to develop a whole new
strategy for your
business. Be more aggressive with being
heard,
but don't change
the direction you're headed due to customer
cutbacks.
6. Make
Some Noise. As you connect more
with your
customers, and
add value to your product line, it's the
perfect time to
go after new customers. It's easier to
be heard when
less people are talking. So go out and
make some noise
to attract new clients; the ones who your
competition may
be laying back from until the end of
the current
economic cycle.
Some businesses
continue to do well, and don't even
understand why
mention of an economic downturn is
occurring.
Many businesses have customers cutting
back, and are
being forced into new revenue generators
in order to
maintain their current market position.
Whichever
position your business is currently in,
continue being
bold out there. No one can predict
when this
economic cycle will change, so be prepared
for whatever may
occur by being a bold business leader.
==============================
Humour: Begging
on Wall Street
=============================
There
were three beggars begging on Wall Street.
The
first beggar wrote "Beggar" on his
broken cup. He received
$10.00
after one day.
The
next day, the second beggar wrote "Beggar.com"
on his cup.
After
one day, he received hundreds of thousands of
dollars and
an
offer to float an IPO on NASDAQ.
The
following day, the third beggar wrote
"e-Beg" on his cup. Microsoft,
IBM
and HP sent corporate vice-presidents to talk to
him about strategic
alliances
and offered him free hardware consultancy.
In addition, it was
reported
on CNBC that e-Beg uses 95% Oracle technology and
that I2
announced
the launch of BegTradeMatrix; a b2b industry
portal offering
supply
chain integration in the beggar community.
…Anonymous
==============
Feedback
=============
As always, feedback
is greatly encouraged. The purpose of this
newsletter is to help you score your business
goals. If there's something you read today which
you would like to comment on, please send us your
feedback. If there's certain information you'd
like, please send us a request. If there's an
article you'd like to write, please submit it to
articles.
[Please note that articles submitted should be
less than 500 words]
=================
Subscription Updates
=================
If you liked what you read this week, please feel
free to
forward it on to others in the community.
Have them subscribe
to: SHM_Subscribe.
If you received this newsletter by mistake, or
would like to
end your subscription, please send a blank e-mail
to:
SHM_Unsubscribe.
