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Everything is Possible

A recent study by the Survey Research Center of the University of Michigan, which was cited in the New York Times, showed Americans are more pessimistic about their situation now than they have been for over a quarter-century. A few days ago at the Fortune Small Business Growth Summit in Atlanta, Tom Peters, the keynote speaker and co-author of In Search of Excellence, polled the audience of 300 executives on how long they believe the downturn will last. Over 57% believe that it will last at least 2 years. Doom and gloom is in the air. What can you do about it?

BELIEVE AND ACT

Do what the most successful people and organizations do — believe and act. At the same Growth Summit, Henry McGovern, CEO of American Restaurants headquartered in Poland, shared his inspirational story about building a $3B fast-growing business. It's now the largest restaurant chain in Eastern Europe, employing 16,000 people. It started in 1993 with one Pizza Hut outlet in Wroclaw, Poland and was built on the philosophy: "Wszystko Jest Mozliwe" or "Everything is Possible."

This is a perfect example of successfully executing the "Attraction Strategy" (described in Ch. 8 of Pursuit of Passionate Purpose). Remember the famous saying, "If you think you can or you think you can't, you are right." American Restaurants obviously believes they can. That's why their BHAG® (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) is now to become the "#1 Restaurant Company in the World!"

Both in good and in challenging economic times, choose to believe — just like American Restaurants — that "Everything is Possible." This Optimism is the "O" of the nine SUNFLOWER traits that effective Passionate Pursuers™ possess. Carry a hopeful, upbeat disposition and believe that good prevails. Carmine Gallo, author of "Optimism in a Recession" (Business Week Online 4/28/2008) agrees and suggests that "you surround yourself with builders, not distracters." Google the phrase "Hot Dog Story" and learn of a classic business story involving this principle.

However belief is not enough, you must take proper action.

WHAT CAUSES FIRMS TO FAIL IN A RECESSION?

We can learn a lot from the history of business with its ups and downs. Studies of what causes firms to fail in an economic downturn bring forth valuable lessons (Bigelow & Chan, 1992; Geroski & Gregg, 1996). Companies fail because of cash flow issues, reduction in customer service levels, and lack of marketing investment.

Companies that have been rapidly growing before a recession are especially vulnerable in a downturn. That's because they're using their cash flow to support their growth, and small changes in cash flow impact them greatly.

HOW TO GROW DURING A RECESSION