I commonly hear this refrain from many small business owners, especially as we head into another year. There are good reasons to think that our best years of building our business are behind us. Certainly the popular press shows this every night on the news.
The reality of what we faced the last few years is brutal. While our overall economy is improving, there is still no credit for small businesses to grow from banks. Health insurance increases are still making that cost the second largest behind people for small business.
Stop moaning since there are reasons to be optimistic:
1. Only laziness holds us back from finding a new customer in a $14T U.S. economy. There has to more customers in pain that will pay for your solution. Put systems in place to form relationships with them.
2. “Frugal Fatigue” has set in. As Rieva Lesonsky says, people are tired of not buying. Spending is up. Why shouldn’t they spend their money with you?
3. Employees are cheap. You can afford that person now to take your small business to the next level. They may have been out of work for a year.
4. Marketing is cheap. The playing field is more level to get your message out in a world that values human relationships over big fancy advertising campaigns. Spend time setting a social media strategy and executing it properly.
5. Your business is “Anywhen”- As Chris Brogan coined this term, technology now gives us the ability to work at your business anywhere and anytime. We are no longer tied to a geographic location or a timezone. Take advantage of this to live the life we want as a small business owner.
Are our best years in business behind us?
Couldn’t agree more Barry. It’s all in the mindset. You either moan about it, and attract all the negatives, or you seek a way to build and grow.
Here in the UK, we’re pretty good at moaning, but I loved it when I saw a taxi cab driver with the following banner on his sun visor:
“MY BUSINESS IS PICKING UP”
I bet he was a smiley faced driver don’t you?
While I agree that the counter-cyclical argument (prepare for the coming recovery during the current bad times) is valid, and there are plenty of examples from history of successful companies starting during recessions, I’m not going to blame an entrepreneur for wanting to wait just a little bit longer.
Barry, I love it when competitors say “our best years of business are behind us.”
And they are right if they sit on their hands and do nothing but complain and play the blame game. Those businesses who are proactive and go out there and build and grab more business are going to be the ones who survive in any economy.
In the US, moaning is still an national past time! You got to shut up and take action!
For some small businesses it’s likely true. Too many have moaned their way to the poor house with broken business models, push marketing and obnoxious customer service. Fortunately, many others are opening their minds to what’s possible as they abandon the “things that got us here” in favor of the things that will get them further up the ladder of success.
Randy
Here here!
[…] Are Our Best Years of Business Behind Us? By Barry Moltz Excerpt – I commonly hear this refrain from many small business owners, especially as we head into another year. There are good reasons to think that our best years of building our business are behind us. Certainly the popular press shows this every night on the news. […]