buznutt

Times are tight. Had you noticed? Well, most of us have, suddenly.

Hey. It happens. Every now and then. Unless you’re still in grade school you’ve been through a few cycles of this stuff. So let’s assume that we have some common ground here. We know what tough times are because we’ve seen them come and go and, right now, they’ve come again.

So what does this mean for you and me and business?

Well, aside from noticing that news reports say the same bad things day after day, and aside from seeing ugly numbers on your balance sheet, there are some other events you’ve heard about. Look at the big guys. Big guys and their big doings. Too big to fail, and yet they do. How secure is that supposed to make the rest of us feel? Really?

We are living in times that have gotten too interesting lately. But now is a great time to make changes and use trouble as a tool. Right now everyone wants to pull back. It’s a great time to do that or go out of business. Or to do something unexpected.

"The price of progress is trouble, and I must be making lots of progress," said Charles Erwin Wilson, a president of General Motors and long-serving Secretary of Defense. That sounds about right. By the way, he’s also credited with saying "What’s good for General Motors is good for the country." That’s actually a misquote, but you get the idea. We can understand it, whether or not it’s still true.

Back to the subject.

Part of the problem of being a big company is being a big company. Have you ever noticed how some really big and successful companies start to fade, and weaken, and shrink? And then they keep on doing that? Have you ever wondered, really? How can that happen?

They have the resources. They have big buildings, lots of staff. They can afford the highest paid, brightest people. They can go on for years, failing, and failing some more. They keep doing what they’ve always done, and not making money, and then they do it some more, and shrink some more, and then you wake up one day and they aren’t there any more.

Everyone can see it coming but it still happens.

It’s like that with big companies. They have inertia. They are committed to doing the same things the same way, because that’s what they do. And then they go away. Small businesses aren’t like that. So much.

They disappear too. Lots of them. Every day. But not all of them. Some of them want to stay small, like Bob Kramer, who makes some of the best knives in the world, by hand. He might produce 200 in a year, and at $750 for a smallish knife he’s doing fine. He’s not taking orders right now, either. His backlog is too big.

Some other small businesses grow slowly, for a long time, and stay around only as long as the owner does. Some get bought. Some grow in good times, and then keep growing in bad times, like sturdy trees. Some of them grow and diversify into a cluster of different but related small businesses. Some keep changing from one thing to another, and somehow keep getting better all the time.

There is a basic idea though, and that is not to go stop until you plan to. Life is so much easier that way. And much more rewarding. You get to be in charge. But to do that you have to stay in business.

They say a good rule is to trim back and tighten up when times are good, and grow when times are bad. This is the opposite of what everyone does. Unless you aren’t everyone. Unless you are really savvy, in charge, and think ahead.

Think about that, growing during a recession. Being tight. Being taut. Being OK. Being in charge. So how do you do it then? Must be easy, right?

Well, no. Every business is unique, including yours. You know how to run it. After all, it’s yours. Who else would have a clue anyway? You know the ins and outs. The ups and downs. You know what you like and who you like and where you like to be and just how you want things run. And that’s perfect. You have to do your own thinking.

So let’s look at something else for a minute, like why now might be a good time to start using the Web. Or to expand your Web presence if you’re already there. Let’s see.

• How about an infinite number of potential customers?
• How about reaching them anywhere in the world?
• Cost: basic web sites are so cheap they’re almost free.
• Cost: a great custom web site is so effective it’s almost free.
• You can remodel your web site almost overnight, unlike a store.
• Good design allows you to update your site at any time.
• The Web can provide you with customer feedback.
• Visitor input can steer you to unexpected opportunities.
• Each facet of your business can have its own targeted web site.
• You can easily try different marketing approaches.
• The Web, commerce vehicle of the future. Be on board.
• Web costs are still coming down, and capabilities are going up.
• New services emerge almost daily. You can use them.
  

It’s time to think about tightening up your business now, while the economy is just starting to shrink. Sure. But also think about getting ahead of the curve and putting some new ideas in place.

Shed fixed expenses and overhead and move more of your business to the Web. Remember that your most valuable product is service, your most valuable asset is reputation, the most valuable real estate is communication. Be there, be fair, stay open to new ideas and keep going strong.

See, the difference between a small company and a big one isn’t size. It’s flexibility. You can do things the big guys can’t, because they keep running into themselves. That’s why the Web is your key. It’s as flexible as you are, and it can help your business get wherever it needs to go.

References:

Charles Erwin Wilson is quoted as saying "What’s good for General Motors is good for the country." What he actually said was: "For years I thought that what was good for our country was good for General Motors, and vice versa." See Engine Charlie’s obituary at Time magazine

Bob Kramer: web site, featured in The Olympian, and at the New Yorker

Copyright © 2008 - 2010 by Dave Sailer

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