Let’s call it like it is:  Tough times ahead!  No, I’m not a doom-and-gloomer.  Far from it.  I am an optimist.  Besides, I truly love the challenge of tough times.  They seem to bring out all the best business instincts in me.  

All I’m saying is that it pays to be ready … mentally ready.  I know some SBOs who want to argue about how bad things could get.  Some nervously keep telling themselves that everything will be okay.  I hope so, too.  But they’d better not stick their heads in the sand and hope for the best.   

Just as bad are those biz owners who have already started wringing their hands and talking about how they may not survive, how the coming times will be worse than the Great Depression, etc., etc.  They’ve already quit and are climbing into the lifeboats, even before the Titanic has left port.   

I’ve always believed it was wiser to hope for the best, but plan for the worst. 

My position?  Keep one eye on the macro-picture (how Washington, Wall Street and the world are looking from week to week) and the other on the micro-cosm (your markets, products and competitors).  Then adjust your plans, dig in your heels, and keep on swinging.  And swinging.  And swinging.  No whining.  No excuses.  No alibis.

That way, if things get really bad, you are in the best possible position to weather the storm.  If things only get kind of bad for a short spell, you’ll come out this economic funk positioned to blow the doors off your competition and send your sales, your profits and your business to new levels.

For me, the formula is simple:  Work hard.  Make money.  Have fun. — jri 

“If a man gets tired and has a good alibi…

he’s likely to accept defeat.”

        –    Maxwell Perkins

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