Joe Calloway, Author Become a first-class category: How great companies transcend merchandise and are uncomparable
Hope you didn’t miss it. It dominated the news for a year. It has been described as complex, intimidating, and even destructive. People call it a catastrophe and a crisis. This is a recession. But no crisis can last forever. One day soon we will wake up and the recession will be nothing but a memory. If you act quickly, you can capitalize on the business opportunities created by the recession.
The recession we are currently emerging from continues to provide you with perhaps the greatest opportunity to grow your business, accelerate your strategy and gain significant market share over your competitors. This is true for three reasons:
- Some of your competitors have checked. They dug in, squatted down, and decided to live it out by giving your business an opportunity to gain market share. Motivational speakers urged everyone to “get out of this recession.” You have to hope that your competitors have done just that. Recessions create incredible opportunities, but you have to jump in and take advantage of them.
- Changes in the economy cause changes in leadership. During a recession, customers, whether business or retail, gravitate toward power and leadership. Abrupt changes can cause existing market leaders to falter or falter, creating a vacuum for you. It can also give market leaders the best opportunity to expand their lead by showing off their strengths while underdogs run for cover. In marathons, the lead usually changes hands or increases in the most difficult parts of the course.
- Thinking is becoming more important than ever. The mindset or how you think about business becomes even more important during a recession. A company with a mindset or culture of everyday innovation and relentless improvement can improve its position now faster than ever before. They say that a recession is a redistribution of money from the timid to the bold. Be bold.
There are those who will say that talking about the possibility of a recession is unrealistic. They are weaklings. There is nothing more realistic than to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the economic crisis. A real estate broker who survived the great economic crisis of 1980 (when the base rate reached 20 percent) said, “God gave our competitors the opportunity to find other jobs. Our job is to help them do that.”
It’s all about your mindset. If you refuse to see the possibility of a recession, or any other circumstance for that matter, there is no way you can take advantage of it. Here are the key components of shaping a mindset of opportunity to help you navigate a recession:
- Start from the end. Most companies implement business strategies without having a clear and compelling idea of what they are aiming for and how to achieve it. Know exactly where you want the new economy to take you. The clarity of your vision and your goals is the starting point for thinking possibilities.
- Stop talking about it – act. Successful organizations and individuals have a greater propensity to act. While others are talking about what to do, leaders are doing it. Don’t let the effects of the recession freeze you into inaction.
- Be prepared to fail. If you wait until you are 100 percent sure you will succeed before trying a new idea, then you will never get anything done. Winners know that even if an idea fails, they get new information that puts them on the right track. The crisis has changed all the rules. The market is looking for new ideas.
- Stop being an expert. Experts fall into the “I know how to do it” trap. If you are successful, all this means is that you know how. used work. This means you can compete and win in markets that no longer exist. Today is a new day with new challenges that will require new approaches. The best lessons are learned after you know it all. Be passionately curious and always look for the next best idea. Recessions create new realities. Be open to them.
- Improve constantly. No idea sounds as loud as this: “To be competitive, we must be better tomorrow than we were today.” What did you do today that made you better than yesterday? This is a tricky question, because while our intentions for improvement are good, it’s actually hard to take action that will improve your performance. Look at everything you do with the constant question “how can I do it better”. You can’t take advantage of the end of the recession if you do things the way you’ve always done. See what you’re doing with a renewed vision.
It may sound a little absurd, but there are beneficial by-products for those who see a recession as a major opportunity for growth and success rather than a time to lay low and hide. Understanding that a recession, as ironic as it may sound, can be the best time to grow your business and gain more market share is very important. Then, by taking charge of new, multifaceted thinking, you can help your business thrive, no matter the economic climate.
Joe Calloway, author Become a category of one: How great companies go beyond products and defy comparison is an employee engagement and performance consultant whose client list looks like Who is who businesses ranging from newspapers in Sweden, hotels in the UK and computer companies in South Africa to global brands such as BMW and IBM. He frequently speaks on business trends and has been inducted into the International Speakers Hall of Fame.
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