Fighting the Economic Recession

By Joe Daley

A recessionary phase is difficult for everyone, be it a salaried person (he could be fired anytime!), a businessman (he could face low sales) or even an unemployed person (he could remain unemployed for really long!). Therefore, as they say, hard times call for hard measures, and you really need to fight out the recession, the way Ninjas do!

Especially if you are a businessman, you are likely to face certain impeding elements in your business which would certainly hamper growth, sales and productivity, as long as the recessionary winds continue to blow.

You will find the credit market to be tight, as will be the purses of your customers! After all, they too are facing the heat of the recession - foreclosures in the real estate market are rampant, banks themselves are going belly up, and in the midst of all this, your customers are unlikely to continue having the same vigor for your products and services, as they had in the past.

In such a scenario, it is important that you specifically identify those factors that are affecting your business directly. This is akin to doing a reverse SWOT analysis wherein you start with identifying the threats to your business and work backwards towards how you could combat them, the way fighters do! Once the problem areas are clear, devising solutions becomes that much easier, else things will remain fuzzy.

The altered business plan that you will now put into place makes you a sort of a Recession fighter, as you have now learnt how to successfully overcome an economic recession and tide over difficult times.

The tips below will guide you on the very same process. And they remain applicable, irrespective of whether you have your business or you are into a salaried job, or have some other legal vocation that keeps you going.

1. Identifying the Challenges and Opportunities
In these difficult times, the opportunities are the aspects going in your favor currently, while the challenges are the facets going against you. This step is vital, as even with just this identification, you would have actually managed to brace yourself to slaughter the recessionary fiend.

2. Get your Battle Plan in Place
The war against recession, akin to Bush's War on Terror, cannot be fought without proper forethought and planning. Foresee the way the recessionary winds are likely to blow, and the ways in which they are likely to affect you. This will go a long way in ensuring the right measures to be in place for you, in time for you to fight out the recession - on the battlefield.

3. Turn Thoughts to Action
Now that you have identified the problem areas, and even devised the ways in which you will actually fight out these problems, it is time for action. This would be in the form of prioritizing your objectives, and gaining wisdom from your accomplishments and letdowns.