THOUGHTS & EMOTIONS

In the world of small business there are other forces at play and they are Thoughts and Emotions. As small business owners it doesn’t take much to feel “the walls closing in”. This could be a result of a lost sale, a lack of operating capital, or just not enough time to do everything that needs to be done.

If you are human and in business, you no doubt have experienced some highs and lows. It’s easy to get discouraged and the fight or flight option crosses your mind. Should you continue to “fight” and keep working in spite of what appears to be insurmountable issues? It may be a lot easier to select the other option and that is “flight”, to just walk away from the turmoil and go get a job.

Giving in to negative thoughts and emotions is, in my opinion, the easy way out. Unfortunately, in the real world many owners give up. One of the reasons why the flight option is so frequently taken is because the business owner has no one to talk to. It comes back to having a peer group, a mentor or coach to help you step back and remain calm.

With two or more working on problems in a challenging situation, that extra set of eyes may help find solutions that you alone were not able to see. No, we have not been able to solve all the problems, but a lot of them had alternative solutions and the business ended up better than before the crisis.

A friend told me that the best immediate action to take when a crisis happens is to remain calm. The analogy used was that of a struggling swimmer, all they need to do is relax and they will naturally float.

There are two types of businesses, those that have tough times now and those that are going to have tough times. The following are several suggestions that have helped:

• Doing nothing will make things worse. Take action, don’t be “a deer caught in headlights”.
• Don’t let your imagination get ahead of you. Deal with facts.
• Face your challenge head on. If you have a customer issue, go see that customer. If sales are slow, go out and make sales calls. By confronting an issue head on, there is a strong possibility that it can be taken care of.
• Step back and work on your business instead of in Take an hour or more and take a look at your overall business and check for cracks that can be fixed.

Give your business a chance to succeed.