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Surviving Survival
Aren't you tired of sitting around waiting for something to
finally happen?
I just got off the phone talking with my friend James. We spoke
about how his business was doing, and I asked what he planned on
earning this year. His response surprised me:
'Making money's not my focus now. I don't really think this is
the right time--I'm planning to just hold on until things get
better.'
James is usually pretty optimistic and 'survival' is not part of
his normal vocabulary, so I started wondering about others I
know: my consulting clients, people who take my DYBO
business-doubling e-course, people I meet speaking. One client
wrote they had 'survived' last year, but had 'done the
unpardonable -- cut marketing.' Another told me, 'Well, we made
it. But we cut half our sales force.' And a service provider I
know reduced her total payroll from 130 to 75 people in the past
six months.
Even though Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan has pronounced the
recession over, many businesspeople are taking about one thing
only: survival. They are hunkered down trying to weather the
storm, but they're doing it at the expense of building their
businesses. And I believe many companies are unwittingly
sacrificing their future. Here's the typical survival strategy:
* Cut marketing.
* Lay off marginal employees.
* Cut sales travel expenses.
* Lay off good employees.
* Lay off salespeople.
* Fire ineffective management.
* Reduce your prices hoping to attract business.
* Fire effective management.
Hope for anything. Pray for business. Wait for the recession to
end.
Does any of this sound familiar?
Of course survival is not all bad--not by a long shot. There's a
'statistic' reputed to come from the US Small Business
Administration, which says 9 out of 10 new businesses don't last
five years, or something like that. The details vary with the
telling but the point is well made--it is hard to keep a
business profitable over the long haul, which is why so few of
America's largest companies from 75 years ago even exist today.
The good side of survival makes you 'lean and mean,' scavenging
the landscape for sharp opportunities and playing for keeps.
But the dark side just ends up like a strategy for playing it
safe, putting off decisions and delaying action. Of course, you
may still be around when 'things get better, but will you be in
a position to take advantage of your opportunities? Perhaps--if
you've conserved cash and preserved your ability to generate new
business.
But if instead you've so reduced your ability to go after new
deals - or if you've let your product languish to the point
where it is no longer up to snuff--are you going to be viable?
Will you be able to compete? Will you be ready to grow during
the next expansion?
Transcending the Survival Mindset
We are entering what may be the greatest business building
opportunity of the next decade. While most of your competitors
are still in the warm sleep of survival it is time for you to
prepare for bold action.
Here are some tips which will help you survive survival and
climb back up the ladder of success. Note that this is not a tip
list on *how to survive*, you've already done that. This is
about transcending survival and thriving again.
First, recognize that your goal of survival is not a real
goal--it's a staging zone. A holding pattern. Survival is not
something to commit yourself to--a commitment to survival is a
commitment to a low level of existence. Think of homeless people
who survive by
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scrounging dumpsters for food. They survive--but
at what level? And for how long?
Your real commitment must be one to prosperity.
Next, recreate your vision of life beyond survival. Okay, you
are still in business--congratulations. Pat yourself on the back
because many aren't. But despite the SBA statistics, this is not
a cause for celebration--not yet, anyway.
Ask yourself--what are you surviving for? What will you do when
the survival period is over--when you decide it's okay to start
thriving again? What will you accomplish then? What do you want
it to look and feel like next year and the year after that? If
your vision is simply one of staying in business, you really
should think twice about why you do all that hard work.
Once you have a clear picture of where you are going--the most
important thing is to increase your level of action. You may
have slowed down during this survival period - making fewer
sales calls, reducing your marketing and promotional efforts,
retarding product development.
Now it's time rev up the engines and get moving again. How much
effort does your business plan call for? What does your
strategic plan say?
If you don't know, or if those plans are no longer relevant, you
need to freshen the business plan or create a new strategic
plan. It doesn't have to be a perfect plan, but don't just lurch
into action. Don't move forward without a plan!
Detail the measures of activity and performance for your
company. In my business these include leads generated, sales
conversations, relationship and networking conversations,
articles written and published, new customers signed, consulting
contracts, course registrants, web hits, press releases sent,
press mentions, radio interviews, key notes and speaking
engagements, and of course, revenues, profits, and cash-in-bank.
Your measures may be different but the process is the same:
1. Make a list of each key measure. These will include both what
I call results goals and activity goals.
2. Establish a performance goal for each, by week, month or
quarter--whatever is most appropriate. Then, up the ante--you've
most likely slowed down and the whole point here is to increase
your activity. So take whatever your goal is for these items and
stretch it. Reawaken the action habit.
3. Set up a system for measuring and reporting on each of these
keys, and then try to get rid any shortfalls.
4. If your need to spend is still greater than the cash coming
in, cut back everything that is not revenue related, but don't
hurt your current--or future--revenue streams. Look for ways to
reduce overhead--but not sales and marketing expenses.
Here's a special word about marketing: Most likely you have cut
back. Mistakenly, this is often the first area cut when people
think their survival is threatened. Now is the time to bump it
back up. If you don't have cash available there are a whole host
of guerilla marketing strategies which call for limited
spending.
Finally, get a coach or a mentor. Get someone to be an unbiased
and insightful sounding board, someone who can both critique
your plans and present objective counsel. Now--envision your
next growth spurt. Envision your business expanding profitably.
Figure out what it's going to take, and get busy again.
(c) Paul Lemberg. All rights reserved
About the author:
Paul Lemberg is the president of Quantum Growth Coaching, the
world's only fully systemized business coaching program
guaranteed to help entrepreneurs rapidly create More Profits and
More Life™. http://www.fastergrowthnow.com
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