Don’t you just love it when capping a figure seems inspired?

“Your maximum salary can be X.”

“Your target is Y.”

“You must achieve Z.”

Somehow, those figures are not infinity, they are ceilings.

Why not use the word ‘minimum’ instead?

The results will tell you a lot about who you hired.
(and their initiative too)

A business is dependent on the market place.
Base your business on fact rather than fiction, on evidence rather than ‘a feeling’.
The more you research the less you risk.
The more you know, the more confident you will be.
The more you understand the easier to sell.

Remember that earlier Blog?

“Move from we think to we know.”

Did you?
Did you work?
Do your job?
Or perhaps achieve some goals?

We can all ‘go to work’.
We might like it, we might not.

Going to work is a passive dreary outlook.
Next time, set out to achieve things and score some goals.

At the end of the day that’s the only measure that really counts.

If you are still in business almost 2 years after the first roll of thunder – congratulations.
You got this far, you can do the next bit too.

The death of a business can be a slow demise.
If it is, watch out for these critical warning signs;

-The phone stops ringing.
-Your product or service is still the same.
-You ‘make do’ rather than ‘do what is right’.
-Second rate becomes your norm.
-You start to see the negative in everything.
-You talk negatively.
-You lose heart.

There is no magic solution and no magic answer (unless you count ‘sheer hard work and perseverance).
The answer lies within.
You are the answer.

Prevention certainly beats an imminent end.

This Blog is called ‘Dan’ because, well, Dan is Dan.

I had the pleasure of working with Dan this week at a Workshop.
He oozes that wonderful ability to make complicated seem simple.

We were talking about the market, the mood and the tempest.
Dan had seen it all before.

Here is what he said (with poetic license naturally).

“In a recession more people simply say ‘no’ rather than ‘yes’.
Nothing has changed.
It’s just that the ‘yes’ answers are a little harder to find.
No big deal, they are there, you just have to cut through the ‘nos’ to get to the ‘yes’”

What a wonderful way to inspire a mission.
Then again, we meet wonderful people every day.

Like Dan, you just have to give them a stage.

As we journey through life we meet thousands of people.
Few will leave a lasting footprint.
Few will create an impact.
You know who they are.

The few who do have already stood out from the crowd.
Their presence in your life made a difference.
That action, that impact, deserved and earned your respect.

What was that quality?
What did they say?
What did they do?
Why did they inspire you?
Why did you listen?
What was it about them?

Next time you meet someone lost, at a crossroads or needing guidance.
Think about those who got your respect.

Now follow in their footsteps.

When the seas are calm and the sun shines, courage is tucked away.
When it gets stormy, scary and sinister, courage comes to the fore.

Courage becomes a necessary part of our decisions.
Courage will test our thinking.

Like a little voice it will ask us to do the opposite.
How we listen determines our action.
Our action maps our future.

When business is tough ‘no’ might just be the hardest word.
It might also be the best.

As Charles Dubois said;
“The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.”

A business often behaves like a human.
Not surprising given that we run them.

A business can have ups, downs, highs, lows.
A business can run out of steam, ideas and even the will to live.

Worse still, just like us humans, a business can die.
That’s the death of hope, jobs and heritage.

We only have the present.
We can’t predict the future.
We can’t do anything about the past.

In a tough climate there is a real danger a leader will either live in the past.
Worse again, despair of the future.

Funny thing is, both are out of their control.

In business, you can only live in the present.
That means now – right now.

Be very very careful that your business is not so busy dying that it forgets how to live.

It’s a year since the first thunder storms rolled in.
Roofs were lifted and walls knocked down.
There have been tragedies and revelations, ups and downs.
One year on we have all lived and we have all learnt.

Worth asking yourself how have you used the last 12 months?
Did you reinvent?
Reimagine?
Resist?
Renew?

Like extracting a bad tooth a recession is good for you.
It forces new paths, new ways and new thinking.
It creates new markets, new alliances and new horizons.
That just might make you feel good, feel better

But, if you are still indulging in paralysis
Still waiting for the tide to return
Still trying the old way
Still waiting
Be prepared to fail.

You are still alive, fully fed and not yet homeless.
Use the time wisely.
Use it to connect with your customers.
Use it to be humble and offer help.
Use it to empathize
Use it to reinvent, reimagine and restore
Use it to understand what’s needed
Use it to fill the gap

You never know, but the refreshing thing about doing all that is that the new way may just be far more fun than the old way
……. And that will inevitably be more profitable too.

As the saying goes;

“When the horse is dead – get off”

There have been far worse recessions and far deeper poverty.

Whilst this is inconvenient, uncomfortable and disturbing, we need to take responsibility for where we go.

The uncreative folk tread the same well worn path “Go To The Government.”

The creative folk put their shoulder to the wheel instead.

The vision must not become a nightmare. The vision must have a goal.

If the goal exists, if the goal is clear, the action will follow.

It’s about focus, fuel and determination.

Henry Ford (and worth thinking about) once said;

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”