At times you have to choose between money and title, life or death of your company. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Business, my mentor once told, me is like marriage. It goes
though ups and downs but if there is love, determination and strong
purposes it can survive any storm.
The late American
evangelist Robert Schuller said tough times don’t last but tough people
do. Good times too don’t often last. This is precisely why as a business
leader you should know how to navigate through tough times even if you
are enjoying good times.
When your business gets into storms such as lack of funds, loss of customers or personnel issues you must take action.
Taking
action is the first step. It is better to make wrong decisions than to
do nothing. You can learn from a bad decision but we you cannot get
anything by doing nothing.
Your biggest asset is your employee and your customers.
Figure
out how to get their support and spell out what you are ready to offer
in exchange. Avoid making promises you cannot keep. You need to keep
your credibility unquestionable and if you cheat soon you will run out
of options.
Nurture relationships. In tough times it is
only logical to cut your budget. However, it is the worst possible time
to slash team-building and marketing budgets.
Doing so when more customer goodwill, togetherness and team effort are needed to overcome the challenges is self-sabotage.
Keep looking for new opportunities and new ways of doing things.
Enterprises
are built on solving human needs. Problems keep evolving and so
business leaders need to keep evolving to remain relevant. Often you
don’t need to offer different products. You only need to offer what you
are offering differently.
Always be realistically optimistic. Encourage and inspire your team but avoid happy and empty bravado talk.
Let everyone know what you are going through and that their survival is at threat.
To
achieve this invest in information. Information is potential power that
can transform your firm and lift it to new heights. In tough times much
of what passes as news of the state of economy and prediction of the
future is nothing more than individual writers and popular opinion.
Study and analyse the situation yourself before making any decision.
Work
smart not necessary hard. Take time to plan and execute a well thought
out strategy with long-term goals in mind. Avoid devoting all your time
to solving daily problems and losing focus on the big picture.
Finally,
re-evaluate your workforce starting with yourself. Sometimes some of
the employees in your firm including yourself may be unfit to lead your
company to the next level. You need to recruit top talent and do away
with under-performers slowly.
If you are one of them, you have to hire a competent person to take over the leadership role.
You
can be a ceremonial figure or chairperson and still enjoy benefits. At
times you have to choose between money and title, life or death of your
company.
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