To deal with recession, use your head

Posted on | January 23, 2009 | 1 Comment

It’s Friday and its fairly late in the day. I bet you thought you weren’t going to hear from me today. And you might not have, except that I noticed something.

I’ve been getting a lot of press releases from PR professionals telling me about this or that new product or service that will help microbusinesses to function “in the current economy.”

Now, above and beyond the fact that there are relatively few microbusiness owners, currently engaged in cutting the fat from their operations budgets, who would view the acquisition of yet another monthly expense in quite that light …

… there’s that “in the current economy” bit.

I blogged before about the dilemma I feel like I have because, on the one hand, it’s my job to keep people informed but, on the other hand, it’s not my job to scare people silly. And sometimes it really does feel like the mainstream media is engaged in a contest to see who can be the most dire right now.

(Pause for musical interlude … )

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So, I’m not much inclined to get into a string of stories about this or that product or service that lets you “do more with less.” I don’t feel like I need to write about that for microbusinesses because that — doing more with less, I mean — is what they do anyway.

It would be like me offering you detailed instructions on how to walk. It might make entertaining reading on a slow day but it’s not the kind of information you really need — at least, not from me.

I’d be happier letting you know what’s going on in the world and how it’s likely to impact you and your business but at the same time letting you see that concern makes sense, panic is unnecessary.

So, right now, here’s what I have to say to you: the most important tool you need to be successful in this or any other sort of economy is one that won’t cost you a dime because you already have it.

What you need to be successful is lodged between your ears. It’s called a brain. It houses things like analytic ability, creativity, insight, communications tools and imagination.

That doesn’t mean these aren’t challenging times. They are. But all you really need in order to deal with the challenges and to find the opportunities hidden in them is to avoid freaking out (since that clouds your judgment) and use your head.

In any given situation, there are always options.

You can figure this out. It really is just that simple. You can figure this out.

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