WHEN ALL IS DARK… SHOULD I GIVE UP ON MY AGRIBUSINESS DREAMS?

This was the topic that my colleagues at One Plot Initiative asked me to discuss on our Agribusiness Management Tips Podcast a few weeks ago. For more than a year now, things have gone haywire for many individuals, communities and nations all over the world. It’s been a very difficult time for families and businesses, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic which hit in early 2020. People have experienced a lot of loss, suffering, and frustration.

Start-up businesses have been hit too, thanks to the inflation and economic depression, making things even tougher. Prices of essential goods and services have skyrocketed and keep rising daily. Businesses in the Agriculture sector have also felt the heat in these hard times. For a lot of people, darkness seems to be everywhere, putting their business dreams at the risk of extinction.

“Business life is just like human life. There are happy times and then there are bad times.” ― Pooja Agnihotri

I have realized that life is a good pointer to how we can handle harsh times. They say that “Life is full of ups and downs”; that it isn’t sunny all the time, rain does fall; that some days come bright and chirpy but nights do follow, dark and ominous. Darkness simply means, the absence of light; but it is also used to refer to a state of gloom, distress or trouble, including evil. A lot of people have been through this at certain points in their lives and many are going through it now.

How can you handle your down moments, as an agro-entrepreneur, such that you don’t give up on your dreams?

1.  Maximize your uptimes. What you make of your uptimes become very telling when the downtimes strike, as they sure will. When things are going well with you, take advantage to do better. Save for the future. Plan for the proverbial rainy day. The Scripture encourages us to emulate the ants. They gather provisions in the summer to tide them through the winter. In business, uptimes are an opportunity to store towards downtimes. Instead of giving up on your dreams when the times are dark, that is the time to dip into your reserves. Your reserves are not only financial; they include your competencies, capacity, network and other resources that you will need to weather and overcome the dark times.

2.  Put up a brave front. Instead of complaining and getting frustrated during your dark moments, you can actually brave up. While it may look like everything is collapsing around you, there you are, behaving as if the problem is not important or does not worry you. I’ve met people who passed through very difficult times and didn’t seem fazed at all. One of them taught me an unforgettable lesson. Do you know that during tough times, you can still find people doing extremely well? Hard times ‘separate the men from the boys’. Find out what and how they are doing. Of course, not all may be scoring high on ethics and morals but find those who do, study their MO. This will give you positive energy for battle against your misfortune.

3.  Pursue creativity. They say that “necessity is the mother of invention”. According to Wikipedia, this well-known proverb roughly means that the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need. Maybe your business ran into troubled waters because your solution or value proposition was no longer interesting or effective. You see, customers are bombarded with innovations and offerings that keep satisfying their needs and changing their preferences. Look at the totality of your business – what needs to change, be reviewed, refined, etc? Your operations? Policies? Relationships? Exposures? Products/services? Financial discipline? Market strategies? The outcome of your creative efforts may just be the propeller to lift you and your business out of the dark.

4.  Tough times don’t last. That book, “Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do!” By Robert H. Schuller sure deserved the bestseller status. One of the lessons taught in that book is that every problem has a limited lifespan; that no problem lasts forever because people will always find a solution. Therefore, just like previous hardships, this too shall pass. Knowing this should toughen, rather than weaken you, so you don’t expire with the problem. It should build your confidence and ‘muscle’ during dark times. It’s only a matter of time, you’ll get through this. Instead of giving up your dreams, give it more fire!

5.  Touch base with God. You see, God knows everything. He knows about your good times and bad times and how to get you through it. Instead of you to struggle all by yourself, seek help from the ONE who is more than able to do ALL things. You can never be smarter, wiser or cleverer than God. Save yourself the trouble, it’s hard enough as it is, and reach out to God. He is available 24/7. Pray, fast if you have to, but hang in there with God.

Albert Einstein said: “Nothing happens until something moves.” You need to make fundamental changes to your life, your dreams and your business to ‘get your groove back’. Engage in some sober reflection. Dark times afford us the opportunity to do so. Yes, you are worried and discouraged. There are bills to pay and obligations to meet and goals to achieve. You could be watching your sweat literally go up in smoke. That might weigh you down but staying down is not a solution. If you give up on your dreams, you are giving up on yourself.

Lift yourself up. Engage in personal development. Be ready and willing to learn, unlearn and relearn. Be an overcomer. Talk to people who have been through times like this and they are closer to you than you can imagine. They can give you physical, mental and emotional support. Confront your problem and resolve to be the last man standing!