Articles
Businesses
For Sale
by Pam Kershaw,
Sydney Morning Herald, May 16, 2000
Buying or starting
a small business always carries a degree of financial and personal
risk. Failure rates are high in the early years, but even those businesses
that prosper often go through testing times.How
can you best deal with them? How do you keep a positive attitude when
you hit the really rough patches? And if some people deal better with
major business problems than others, what are their characteristics
and what can we learn from them?
The
people who deal best with adversity are distinguished by a belief
and trust in themselves and their abilities, according to life coach
Lorna Stewart.
“If
they believe in themselves they will find a way through or around
any roadblock. It will give them the persistence to keep looking for
the right strategy or solution even when it seems impossible,” Stewart
says.
They
are willing to accept new challenges, but if something fails they
learn from their mistakes and empower rather than disempower themselves.
“Asking
‘why is this happening to me?’ is disempowering and can flip someone
very quickly into victim-land, whereas asking ‘what can I learn from
this situation?’ is empowering and opens the doorway to possibility
and choice,” Stewart says.
David
Wood, director of Lifeskills
Coaching, believes that those who cope well with adversity have
realised it actually does not matter.
“We
strive for control and security, but it doesn't exist. People who
deal best with adversity are those who don’t complain or suffer, but
take it as a lesson and part of the game,” he says.
Coach
Dr Mark Naim says it is important to be centred, balanced, and have
a business philosophy of being of service to the community rather
than just solely making money.
“You
need to learn to be yourself and have a diverse and full life. It’s
important not be attached to any one outcome, but to always stay in
the area of choice,” Naim says.
David
Rock, managing director of Results Life Coaching, has five survival
tips for dealing with times when things go from bad to catastrophic.
One:
do not panic.
“Panic
is the biggest immobiliser. Once you are in panic mode, serious trouble
seems to have a way of sniffing you out,” Rock says. Get your mind
off the problem at least temporarily by spending some time on other
things – your family, friends, a hobby. Focusing on something else
is a more effective distraction than trying not to think about business
issues.
Two:
get the full picture
Do
not avoid dealing with the problem. Get all relevant details so you
know exactly what you are facing, as fear of the unknown is often
more debilitating than the actual situation. If things are as bad
as you fear, at least you know what you are dealing with.
Three:
slow down.
It
is easy to feel forced into hasty decisions in a difficult and fast-moving
situation. Slow down, and fully consider the implications of what
you are doing, particularly for the long term. Perhaps check your
emails only once a day and advise people you are going to take 24
hours to consider any issue before answering.
Four:
get help
When
they are going through troubling times, many people do not want others
to know about it. Pride, the belief that they should be able to handle
it themselves or not wanting to trouble others are usually the causes.
Rock says men are especially bad about seeking help, but plenty of
women also fall into this trap.
“When
we are going through difficult times, our family and friends often
want nothing more than to know how they can really help us. Tell a
few close people, and you might find your load lightened and new ways
of approaching things.”
Five:
focus on the long term
Remember
that everything passes, and many entrepreneurs have come close to
losing everything at least once.
Stewart
also recommends having a vision about your future (in written or pictorial
form) to inspire you, along with a mission statement that reminds
you why you are in business.
Another
technique is to write down 10 or 20 things in your life for which
you are grateful – at the very least it will get your mind off business
issues and focus you on positive aspects of your life.
As
a heavily stressed and over-tired mind does not deal well with problems,
regular exercise and relaxation can be very powerful routes to a more
positive attitude.
“One
of my clients identified the main thing stopping his business growing
was that he was spending all his time on it. He was overwhelmed and
exhausted, came across as desperate and drove customers away.
“Now
he’s devoting more time to his surfing and his relationship, he’s
more effective with his time and he’s listening to his customers’
needs. Things are now turning around for the better,” Stewart says.
By
Pam Kershaw
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