Don't Panic! Do this instead...

Inflation…Bear market…RECESSION.

You’re hearing this stuff everywhere…but it’s not time to panic.

Here’s what to do instead…

1) Slow down & take the long view.

You should take a step back from the day-to-day and schedule some strategic thinking time for yourself. Don’t let the stress & the noise get in the way of doing your long-term planning.?

You won’t make good strategic decisions from a place of panic and fear, so remind yourself that this challenging time will pass. Put your focus on what you can do to maximize your opportunities in the meantime.

2) Focus on what you can control

You don’t get a say on federal interest rates, gas prices, or other companies laying people off - so don’t waste precious time worrying about those things. Focus your time and energy on the things that the business has control over, and maximizing the impact of those decisions.

For example - if your business uses a lot of fuel, you can measure how increased prices will impact your bottom line and implement strategies to minimize the impact of those costs. You can’t change the price at the pump - but you can prepare your business for the impact.

3) Take care of your people

Everyone is feeling the economic impacts lately, and your people are worried about what this all means for themselves and their families. Communicate with them - let them know what you’re doing in the business to steady the ship, and what your plans are for the future.

When you don’t communicate, people tend to fill in the gaps with the worst case scenario stories. Don’t let them, it causes more stress, fear, and panic & that’s not what anyone needs right now.

4) Think about your customer

Every business and every industry is going to be impacted differently by an economic downturn. But not everyone will be impacted the same way - you have to put yourself in your customers’ shoes and consider how these conditions might impact their business, and prepare to help meet their needs.

If you mainly serve the lower end of the market, your customer might struggle more and buy from you less. The higher end of the market may not be dramatically impacted - they may even be in position to grow, so you could benefit from that as well.

5) Scenario Planning

During your strategic planning time, you should be putting together different scenarios and contingency plans. Run the numbers on revenue decreasing by 25% and 50%, as well as revenue increases of 25% and 50% - think through what those numbers would mean for the business, and how you’d respond in each case.

This way, if things change drastically in the future, you already have an outline of what you’ll do and how you’ll deal with those changes. You shouldn’t rely on knee-jerk reactions to determine the fate of your business; think things through and be ready to respond.

6) Know your numbers

This is timeliness advice, but especially valuable in moments of turmoil. Ask yourself, what are the most important financial measures in the business? Where can you find that information and how often should you be reviewing it?

Once you know your numbers, you’re empowered to make better decisions. You don’t have to make tough decisions based on your gut feeling alone - you have real numbers to back up your intuition.

7) Focus on Process, not results

You can’t control the outcomes that you’ll see in a recession - you can only control your approach and your decision making. You can make 100% of the right decisions based on the information that you have, and still get a negative outcome.?

That’s not a reflection on you, or your business - you have to focus on the process. Go through the steps, gather information, make the best possible decision based on what you know, take action, and move forward.?

Entrepreneurs like you deal with challenges at every stage of your business. You’ve spent the last 2+ years navigating uncharted waters, and this latest economic wave is no different. You’re here, your business is here today, because of your decision making and ability to navigate things up until now - that’s a credit to your work as an owner.

You started on this path for a reason, and remember why you started is crucial in these moments. This is not the first or last time you will face an “unprecedented” challenge in your business. You’re built for these moments.

Don’t panic.