Being in business takes confidence and courage, especially in times like these. Buyers aren't buying. Lenders aren't lending. Everyone delays making decisions, because everything seems so uncertain.
How do you — how do I — as a business owner survive and thrive in uncertain times?
At times like these, it may help to recall the old saying, "I complained I had no shoes until I met someone who had no feet." As bad as it may be to be self-employed right now, it's probably far worse to have an uncertain job. There are lessons to be learned by remembering exactly why you're in business for yourself and, indeed, how much better off you have it than those people who are waiting for the corporate office to decide whether they'll still have a job next month.
Like virtually every other businessperson, I'm also facing uncertain times. I'm in an industry undergoing dramatic changes and unprecedented threats — book publishing. In case you haven't heard, there's something called the Internet where lots of people now go for information when they used to buy books. And my books are sold in bookstores — like the one down the street from you that's now closed.
Here's what I reminded myself of the other day: I can do something about it. No, I can't change the industry dynamics. But as a person who owns a business or who is self-employed, I can make decisions, take actions. I can help shape my economic destiny. Sure, I don't have complete control — I may have to make major changes in my business, my expenses, the nature of my work — but at least I can do something to help keep my business alive and my employees keep their jobs. (Because, believe me, laying someone off is not something any responsible business owner wants to do.)
I compare my reality to people who have lost their jobs or are waiting to hear whether they're going to lose their jobs. It's not that they have no control over their destiny, but they don't have nearly the day-to-day sense of empowerment that I do — or that you can, for that matter.
In fact, thinking about all the people I know in limbo — wondering whether they'll have a job or not — reminded me of when I first started my business. I lived in a three unit building (a charming Victorian in San Francisco!), and in each of the other two units were single men who worked in one of the nation's largest banks. When I decided to leave my secure job and open my own consulting practice, they were both very concerned: "It's so risky. It's so insecure. It's financially dangerous."
But every day for the next two years, I watched as the bank they worked for was first threatened by a takeover and then was sold. Every day, my neighbors shared their worries over whether they'd have a job, whether they'd have to move away. Meanwhile, every single day, I woke up and went to work creating my own future.
Within two years, they both lost their jobs, but all these years later, I'm still in business. Not the same business exactly — I've had to make changes, evolve. I've had major set-backs and financial scares. But every day, I could go to work and take some measure of control of my destiny.
I don't usually use my column for such long personal TRANCES. I do so now to remind YOU of what it means to be in business for yourself. It means that every single day, you can go to work to make something happen. You may have to work harder to make a sale. You may, like me, have to find new business models in a changing industry. Or, you may have to change the nature of your business altogether.
But I have survived downturns before. I know that many of the strongest businesses were founded during depressions or recessions. I know that I — and you — can survive, thrive.
Uncertain times require you to be certain about something — that you are fortunate to be able to take some measure of control of your destiny. That's what being in business for yourself is all about.
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