WE SHOULD ALL JUST GIVE UP AND GO HOME…!
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Posted by Bob Dearsley, Chief Exec |
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Are you, like me, tired of the commentators who just want to tell you that the UK market economy is in dire shape, so we should all pack up and baton down the hatches until the economic storm blows over?
Recessions are nasty things, they are guaranteed to mess up all your five year planning. You started out the year with a plan to invest in and grow the business. Now you find yourself dealing with clients who are under increasing pressure from their own customers to cut costs while their prospects keep taking that major capital purchase to the monthly board meeting and it just gets deferred time and time again.
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No surprises. It was the same last recession. And the one before that. And it will be the same at the next one.
I found myself bemoaning the state of the economy and realized that if you are the size of GE or HP you don’t have any choice – you are going to slow your growth by the same amount as the economy at least, maybe more! Then one wise old (actually more like 50 year old) friend reminded me what I did in 1990. We grew almost exponentially from nothing in the space of two or three years – because we were very small as a business and as an SME – a real VSSME (very small SME) – you don’t have to obey the same market dynamics as the rest of the economy. You are small enough to buck the trend. Just work at it, look at your service offering, work on it, change it, look for what people want to buy and deliver it. You are small enough to turn and transform.
I was in the mindset that 20 years on, we were bigger so how could we possibly beat the recession in the same way? And it took a short, sharp conversation to re-align my thinking and get real.
20 people or 200 people – you are still an SME! And SMEs are what will pull the economy out of recession, again.
The market has been tough but we are growing, building and evolving, even transforming our business. New service offerings. A focus on the markets that are growing and doing well. New ideas and fresh thinking positive people – what more do you need to win in today’s economy?!
Certain sectors are doing well – cultivate them. Certain companies are announcing new product offerings – help to grow them.
There has never been a time when enthusiasm, grit and determination in business were more needed, and now is the time to get out there and make it happen. In a double dip, there is no point in waiting for it to happen to you. There is business out there to be had. Go get it!