Small Business Saves the Day

We have been in this recession long enough that some things are becoming clear about the recovery that is just beginning.

• It’s a ‘soft’ recovery. This means that it is a very gradual, mixed recovery, with some sectors of the economy, notably the stock market  and housing, on their way up, and other factors, most notably the job market, still on bottom.
• This recession has been like no other. It hit companies large and small so hard that some previously fundamental ways of doing business have changed. It has driven companies to use technologies more fully, and to redesign their workforces to achieve productivity with fewer people. Many lost jobs will not come back.
• The biggest driver for the U.S. economy has previously been personal spending. But, with fewer jobs and reduced incomes, many people are not able nor inclined to spend; they are stretching and saving instead. So this recovery is going to have to find its footing on a different foundation than before. Small businesses may be that foundation.
• Although small businesses were hit very hard by the recession, more of them are starting up now than ever before. It’s that disappearing job thing; when you can’t get a job from someone else, it’s time to invent your own.
• Small businesses are usually able to be much more agile and adaptable than large ones. It’s like the difference between a rowboat and an ocean liner… one turns on a dime, and the other needs a lot of time, resources and room.

So, if you own a small business and can hang in there and adapt, the future may be yours.

What does that look like?

• It is not necessarily true that you are  in trouble if your business is consumer-related (the no-jobs/low personal spending  thing). Think small banks versus big ones. Small community banks are booming all around the country, while many big ones remain mired in their troubles from a year ago. You can still do business with consumers, but you have to reach them in different ways, and you may very well have to reinvent any or all aspects of your business so it is relevant and sure-footed in the emerging economy.

• Strategic partnerships between small businesses are excellent pathways to success. What other business could mutually complement yours? If you sell telephones, for instance, how much better could you do if you team up with someone who sells broadband? If you’re selling financial services, what would happen if you team up with a bookkeeper?  Insurance companies and collision repair shops have known the power of strategic partnerships for a long time. Now the rest of us need to think that way.

• It’s a great time, if you’re doing OK and your competition is suffering, to go for it and gain market share. Apple is a good example of this. Computer sales overall are sharply down, but Apple, with its iconic and popular product line, is doing quite well, thank you. They have launched a huge initiative — right now when the computer market is suffering — to turn people on to Macs and gain market share. They are going for it big-time.

Above all, resist all the negativity about the economy out there. The gloomy nay-sayers are so tuned in to bad news that they’re blind to the good.  It is a wonderful, perfect time to unleash your creativity, reinvent yourself and your business, set up dynamic strategic partnerships, and thrive. Many small businesses are doing that now, right in the middle of the recession.

Are you ready to join them?

Doug Hickok, CEO, Institute for Provocative Leadership doug@IPLsmallbusiness.com

Give More

My wife and I have had quite a year.

She has been laid off twice this year, and I have had multiple surgeries and scary medical events that keep on going. A really mean recession that has its foot on everyone’s wallet weighs in with a daily negative undercurrent that drags down everything else, and it’s easy to get lost in the drama.

It’s enough to drive a person nuts.

To be more specific, it’s enough to make a person fearful, anxious, defensive, paranoid and self-centered, all of which are normal human reactions to deep distress and lots of losses. Trouble is, that’s no way to live over any length of time, because you really can drown in your sorrows if you can’t figure out how to swim.

So I want to share with you how I stumbled upon a cure for the blues, something that works no matter what.

It’s to give more.

No, I haven’t joined the Boy Scouts or a new church, and I’m not putting on a smiley-face to hide the pain.

I have found that giving more is an antidepressant/aphrodisiac/calmative/digestive aid/purpose-inducing/anxiety-lowering/sleep-restoring cure for just about everything that ails us. It is a magic bullet that can probably even cure the common cold or warm a cold heart.

It snuck up on me.

Coaching company executives is part of my work, and I noticed one day that I had started giving a little extra time to clients in our coaching sessions without even thinking about it. Once I noticed how I felt about doing that, I decided the next step would be to let no good deed go unappreciated; I started speaking up and giving a verbal appreciation whenever anyone did anything right, anything good. Everyone qualifies — friends, clients, grocery store clerks, mailmen, even used car salesmen. I simply say, “Thank you for ______________. I really appreciate it.”

This felt so good that I decided my wife could use some extra love with all that’s going on, so I started looking for ways to ease her way, do more than my share, to give her more of everything she likes. Let’s just say that the feedback was… satisfying.

Dang, this feels so good that I realize I hardly have any time left to feel afraid or sorry for myself. Guess I’ll have to schedule it.

When I’m busy giving more, my primitive, tight emotions relax into joy, connection and peace of mind. It’s true that the more I give, the more I get. I really like how the pinched look on someone’s face drops away and they smile really big just because I took a moment to give a little something. I’m having a blast spreading a little more love in my business, and I am crazy happy about the feeling of my marriage getting better and better.

Perhaps these times could become the best of times instead of the worst of times. Maybe we have a choice about that. What would happen if we all give a little more? How would doing that transform the mighty toils and troubles of the world?

Try it and find out.

I Double-dare you.

Doug Hickok, CEO, Institute for Provocative Leadership doug@IPLsmallbusiness.com