So nothing has changed since I went away on my holidays…

… the media still preaching doom and gloom… in an “end-of-the-world-is-nigh” sort of way.

But as business owners we have a choice NOT to participate in the recession. But how ready are you to reject the effects of a recession to your business?

If you look back at the late 80’s early 90’s, when we had the last major economic downturn, there were plenty of cases where businesses prospered – even grew – while their competitors went to the wall.

Even in this current climate, I see examples of businesses who are actually increasing their business – even in the “hardest hit” industries (such as Estate Agents, Restaurants and Retail).

Yes it’s true that spending is down…

It’s also true that people are being more careful where and how they spend their money…

… But the bottom line is that people and businesses ARE still spending. They have to if they want to survive.

Growing your business in this kind of economy IS a little more challenging. It requires you to be smarter about the way your business operates…

…but that doesn’t mean you have to have a ’super-business’ to prosper!

It reminds me of a story I was once told when I was working for a client (in the days when I worked for someone else)…

Two men are out in the plains of Africa on Safari. They are there to get a real feel of the beautiful country and surroundings, and to get close to all kinds of animals in their natural habitat.

It is three days into their trip, and they had already seen Zebra, Giraffes, White Rhino and Hyenas close hand. Now, however, they found themselves in front of the most magnificent of beasts – the mighty Lion.

As they are hiding in the bushes, the pride male raises his head and sniffs the air. Then the big cat slowly starts to walk in their direction, directly towards the bush in which they are hiding.

One of the men takes off his backpack, pulls out a pair of running shoes, takes off his boots and proceeds to change his footwear.

Meanwhile the Lion was getting closer… The second man turns to his friend.

“What are you doing?” he said. “Are you crazy? You’ll never outrun that Lion!”

To which the first man replied, “I don’t need to outrun the Lion, I just need to outrun you…”

If you want your business to survive (even grow), all you need to do is be slightly better than your competition.

Chances are that your competitors will cut their marketing budget and reduce the amount of marketing and advertising they are doing – which opens up a fantastic opportunity for you, especially as you know the true value of your clients to your business.

If you have focused on measuring the effectiveness of your marketing and advertising as previously discussed, then you already know what is working for you.

You simply need to do more of it while your competitors are floundering.

Now, if you haven’t been testing and measuring what you are doing [shame on you] then it’s something you need to start doing straight away.

You need to start working smarter, not harder.

It is having the systems we discuss each week in place that will give you YOUR running shoes. With a focus on you marketing, sales, debt collection, referrals and other areas of your business that will improve your cashflow and give you your advantage…

… while your competitors are too busy looking over their shoulder trying to see how close the Lion is!

Surviving a recession is not as difficult as you might think, and it doesn’t have to cost a small fortune, but it does require you to put a bit of work in to implement the necessary systems throughout your business if they aren’t already there.

But you also get another advantage…

When the threat of recession ends (and it will), you will STILL have the systems in place which will continue to work effectively for you.

This is what the ‘Accelerate’ Marketing Programme is all about – teaching you the systems you need to work smarter and improve the probability of you making it through the current economic crisis to fight another day.

Not only that, but we will also hold your hand through the implementation and execution phases as well.

For more information on the ‘Accelerate’ Marketing Programme, please go to ACCELERATE and register your interest.

Now, onwards…

… to your success!

Jez