I have a habit. Everyday I wake up (hopefully), go downstairs, start the coffee (we are going no where until i get some of that into me) and then I go get my precious news paper. I then proceed to begin my ritual of enjoying my coffee and reading the newspaper cover to cover. If I don't get to do this for whatever reason, I'm off that day. I know the information is more up to date on the Internet but it's my habit and I like the way its formatted and organized. What can I say? I'm a bit "old school" in this regard.
Lately, however, my old friend the paper is getting mighty depressing. These people just lost their jobs, those people are losing their their house and on and on it goes. I believe that although these stories are tremendously sad and we have all been greatly affected by this recession we really need to try and maintain some type of positive attitude about the future. Nothing will get better until there's some confidence in the US economy.
Just remember that while there are some solid businesses suffering we have also weeded out some weaker businesses that will hopefully pave the way for some newer stronger blood to replace it. I few days ago I read that 57% of California believes that the next great American company will be born out of this recession. I say, why not? This is one of the strongest entreprenurial states in the US. many great American companies were started here. The important thing now is to think out of the box and get creative with your business. This might be the best time for some types of businesses to succeed. We all need to try harder to find opportunities were they might not been any previously.
Example in case, previously the commercial rents had escalated to point were it was becoming economically unfeasible to to achieve any type of profit as many retailers were "working to pay the landlord". Now we're finally seeing the rents come back down to more realistic number. Current business are renegotiating their rents as I write this because they can't afford to be gauged at this point.
Another opportunity are businesses that are for sale, some had weak business plans to start with, were under capitalized and were not properly being managed. These people have paid the ultimate price for their ignorance and are now forced to sell their businesses for pennies on the dollar of their total investment. This is a tremendous opportunity for someone with a solid business plan and some relevant experience to acquire one heck of a deal.
The point I'm trying to make is that for every up there's a down, for every ying there's a yang. We kept seeing things go go go for the last 10 years, it's been an exceptionally long upswing but nothing goes up forever. Think of this, when business is going well, what do you do? Look for more? No unfortunately. People become complacent, they take some time off and enjoy the fruits of their labor. Business never sleeps and it's always moving so if you've been doing less then you're lost your edge and you need to get it back. I don't say this idly, I include myself. We all get comfortable in our success and one day it's ripped away from us and we realize we've gotten soft.
For business owners that have a business they're trying to keep going, go back to basics. Remember the drive and tenacity that it took to get your business going in the beginning. Drop the panic and find the drive that made you believe that you could do this thing in the first place.
For new entrepreneurs, be smart and invest wisely. This is not the time to go way out of your own element unless you have proper guidance.
Spend the extra time and money to really look at the total picture, that includes riding this recession out. With proper planning on the right investment the extra capital you might have to put until we start seeing some progress in the economy might be far less than the total investment to start up a business in a year or 2 from now when things have stabilized.
Have faith & have a plan.
About The Author: Christina Lazuric is an Orange County Business Broker who shares her broker experiences with BizBen readers and has had varied direct small business experience in the past but now assists small business owners sell their business and offers business buyers find their dream business to operate. Phone Christina direct at 949-257-7823.
Watch for more blog posts / articles from me in the future!
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