Back to the Raw

It’s time to stick to what works and dump what doesn’t. Time to get back to the raw.

Like I wrote earlier, whether there’s a recession or not does not matter but what the public opinion reflect does. And so far, your customers and prospects believe that there’s one and are about to act accordingly by spending less.

I like to think of a recession as the early stage of a business, when it’s just starting out without a big clientele, without any profit, without sufficient capital to get by and without brand name recognition.

Yet, sharp entrepreneurs rise against all those odds and thrive. On the other hand, 95% of new companies fail within a year according to the SBA, meaning that the entrepreneurs behind them were not able to survive for XYZ reasons (lack of marketing and branding know-how, in my opinion, being the major factor).

The companies that survive the first year and go on to become profitable and recognized were focused.

They usual had one type of product, one promotion method, a specific target market and/or were frugal and efficient since capital was limited.

In a recession, it’s time to go back to the raw like a popular song goes.

It’s time to go back to the core business activity and pull out the tricks that have proved their worth. Tricks that are guaranteed to work now because they have worked with amazing results in the past.

Going back to basics allows an entrepreneur to work in a familiar environment. It’s like when David told King Saul that he was not comfortable with the armour because he was at his best with his tried and tested (on lions to protect his herd) sling and rocks. Going back to basics allowed him to “fedex” a nice rock on Goliath’s skull.

My first advice to anyone gearing up for a recession is to go back to basics. This is not the time to be trying out new things such as venturing into different products areas, markets, promotional methods and communications messages. Then, work on building the brand, which is all about becoming the most recognized name in the line of business. That’s a topic that I will get into in a future post.

So, it’s time to get back to the raw. Bring out your best race car, the one that never fails and race the course that you’ve mastered, know by heart and that you can win with your eyes closed.

When times are tough, it’s imperative to stick to the A game. That can only be done by unleashing what has proved its’ worth.