February 27, 2009

Coping With the Worst of the Recession - Inspirational Stories

Imagine you had invested the past five years and significant amounts of your own personal wealth, as well as that of private investors, in the pursuit of a new technology and related market opportunity.

Everything is going well, with some customers biting, lots of market interest, and the promise of further investment to take your product to market.  Then the market collapses and your customers stall and investment funds evaporate.  You would be devastated, right?

Well, most of us would be.  But we have been meeting entrepreneurs of late who have had their business plans and more fundamentally their dreams undermined by the global recession.  But, while their metal has been tested, they have not been found wanting, either of; creativity,
resilience, or determination.  In a market in freefall and a time of gloomy news, that is a source of great encouragement.


In the above example the entrepreneur closed shop and set up a new business that is related to the previous one, but cleverer.  Ironically, being pushed to the wall, has brought about a
break-through in terms of; product, technology and market.  The new business model is slicker, leaner and less risky - the odds likely to enjoy greater business success.

To paraphrase Norman Vincent Peal there is, in every set back, disappointment, or disaster the seed of equal if not greater opportunity, or advantage.

Another entrepreneur this time in North America told us about the depression he experienced after closing his previously successful business.  With the downturn business had dramatically dried up dramatically.  The end of the business was inevitable, but the founder quickly bounced back.  There is no clear new direction, but lots of options are being optimistically explored.

To paraphrase Zig Ziglar 'failure is not a person, it is an outcome… it is temporary… it can be beneficial… it points you in a new direction'  So, in what direction will the winds of turmoil blow your business?  You may not end up where you planned, but the new economic order can create its own opportunities for those prepared to tack into the wind.

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