How to ensure success when the going gets tough

Six steps to stay buoyant in difficult times

By Jane Heaton

As the media, financial and business analysts predict stormy seas ahead, what can we do to bolster our business performance and make sure we are still in good shape in twelve months time?

Well, the most significant thing we can do is choose to keep positive and optimistic and get mentally prepared to win through ..... by giving our self-confidence and self-determination a boost and by ensuring that positive, nurturing thoughts dominate.

In this frame of mind, staying motivated and keeping your marketing activity going will be so much easier.

From September onwards, our thoughts naturally turn to the new year ahead. It’s a good time to review our marketing strategy and activities and highlight ways to improve our return on investment over the coming months.

1. Put aside a day to critically review your business in relation to your marketing process. Write down exactly what you are doing to attract and retain customers. If you can’t actually tell what each of your marketing activities is delivering, then it’s time to shake things up. Are there more effective ways to achieve what you want to achieve? Are there some things that you just do out of habit? Is there a way to achieve more with less resource?
   
   
2. Be specific about what you want. Get clear on what it is you want to achieve in the next year to three years. Are all your marketing activities aligned to reaching these goals? Expect the best, give it your attention and you will get it. Although exactly how you get it may well be different than in the months or years gone by.
   
   
3. Stay focused on opportunities. Don’t let negative thinking get you down or detract from your vision or goals. We are all familiar with the old saying “When one door closes, another one opens”. Times may be a-changing, but there lies the seeds of new opportunity – perhaps something you have not even considered before.
   
   
4. Strengthen your personal networks. Be generous, keep giving to others, ask for help and feedback, build relationships, and your contacts will become your greatest ambassadors.
   
   
5. Invest in yourself. Discover what you need to learn to make your business even better, don’t be afraid to make changes or do things differently, and develop and play to your strengths. If you feel stuck or feel you lack knowledge, skill, or confidence, then work out how to acquire it – fast.
   
   
6. Build your team. Use your network to help you concentrate on what you do best. Mix with those who share your values, who uplift you, encourage you, and give you a buzz. It can be lonely running your own business, so build your own personal support network and find a mentor as well as people to whom you can outsource or who can provide you with flexible resource as and when you want it.

It’s all too easy to get dragged down by things you can’t influence. So stay focused and act on those you can, tackle your fears, and find ways to strengthen your confidence and motivation, and, above all, don’t be afraid to ask for help.

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