Avoid adversity impact in the future.
You might not avoid adversity, but you can minimise the impact.
Will you again suffer both financial and emotional pain should significant adversity occur in the future? Wise business owners and managers will make preparations to avoid adversity and minimise problems. Keep family and friends close and look after your customers and the community as they look after you.
Establish new networks of support to avoid adversity. Your business contacts are another kind of money in the bank. If your usual methods and tactics aren’t working, contact your network for help and start networking. Remember, this needs to be a two-way street; your contacts are much more likely to help you if you give something.
Survive adversity.
The current slump seems to be never-ending. Your sales have been way down for months, and you’re starting to feel like the struggle will never end. Don’t panic; there are things you can do to improve your situation immediately. Examine your “Why”.
Take time to reconsider ‘why’ you are doing what you do. It may be time to move on, or you may not have aligned the business’s activities with your passion and strengths. Whatever the cause, blasting yourself out of your comfort zone can help shift your emotional outlook.
After adversity, it is always a good time to stop in a beautiful place to relax, think, reflect, and plan. Developing the habit of routinely engaging in such activities will help considerably mitigate future slumps.
Perhaps the most significant cause of slumps is the ‘feast or famine syndrome,’ where you constantly struggle to make sales while doing the other necessary work. One thing that can help avoid slumps in the future is getting your business “Investor Ready” or, in the case of a not-for-profit, “Grant or Partner Ready” (http://goo.gl/u4n5dN).
A sales slump is almost always due to unfortunate marketing activities. Failure to tackle these activities conscientiously will create a subsequent slowdown. Salespeople who become lazy, take things for granted or ignore the cyclical nature of sales will eventually experience slumps. Most slumps can be averted if you maintain an active sales pipeline backed up with modern, consistent marketing practices.
Revisit your Business Model, Business Plan, Value Chain and Budget.
These essential documents will help you make necessary adjustments and even put your mind at rest. Proper planning helps to avoid the severity of slumps, making it well worth the effort.
Understand the current situation. Before you can fix any problem, you need to know what is causing it. What are the possible causes, external or internal? External causes imposed on you from outside, like economic slowdowns or industry problems, are usually out of your control. However, their impact can also be minimised. Conversely, if your business is experiencing adversity and everyone else is doing well, you probably have internal issues to address.
While external problems are out of your control, you can soften the blow by meeting the issue head-on. Far too many people procrastinate, allowing their situation to deteriorate even further. If it means dealing with internal issues, perhaps this is when you make an effort to improve your practical knowledge or call in an experienced business advisor.
If you felt the shift, new knowledge is how to make it real and deliver the desired outcomes.
Quotable Quotes.
“Accept what is, let go of what was, and have faith in your ability to rise above adversity”. Peter sergeant