Five Tips for Surviving in Bad Economic Conditions
Doom and gloom. That’s about all you hear these days. Unemployment is high. Housing is still sputtering. The financial markets are acting crazy. Businesses are shutting down. Fewer businesses are starting up.
Well – believe what you will – but I’ve put together five little tips that might help you survive the storm:
1. Don’t believe everything you hear or read. A great example is the first paragraph of this blog post. Sure – the numbers can look bad on the surface but when you start digging in and weeding out some of the obvious – it’s really not that bad. The only economy you need to be concerned about is YOUR economy. YOUR numbers.
2. You can only cut so much. Good economic conditions or bad economic conditions – whether you are an individual with a job or a small business owner – you can only cut so much spending. It’s not going to fix a bad situation. Your focus should be on income and revenue. In simple terms: make more money. People and organizations will spend a ton of money and massive amounts of time figuring out how to save a few dollars – I suggest that time and money is better spent generating new business and additional income.
3. Use Social Media. We now have a way to connect to hundreds, thousands, even millions of people. Use it. Learn it. Hire someone to teach you. Whatever you have to do – don’t dismiss this phenomenon. Whether you are digging around for new customers or looking for a job – social media is one of the most effective means of marketing yourself or your business in our entire history. Why do I see businesses without a FaceBook Fan Page? Why is there companies without a Twitter account? I still see unemployed people without a LinkedIn account. Use what’s available.
4. Stop over-analyzing and get back to basics. The name of the game is rather simple: Generate cash flow and create net worth. It isn’t rocket science. Our objective is to make more money than we spend – and to reduce debt and accumulate assets. I think sometimes we get too smart and forget these basics. You can put together a plan that works with a yellow legal pad and a bic pen. Forget the fancy software.
5. Be proactive. When you see trouble on the horizon don’t wait until it’s a major issue – deal with it immediately. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t wait to call the mortgage company when you are three months behind. Don’t wait to go see that customer who is having some difficult times. Some things we need to do – are not pretty – not fun – we put them off. Don’t do it. Dive head-on into problems. Hell – life is a series of problems – those who solve them better and quicker than others are generally happiest.
One more piece of advice: READ. Here at our fingertips we have access to pretty much anything you can imagine. Use it. There is so much information available to us right now – we really don’t have an excuse. We have to condition ourselves to use the tools that are available to us – if we don’t know how – find someone who does and let them teach you.
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This is good advice for people living in larger cities like Metro Atlanta.
In my primary profession in Computer Hardware Repair, and also in Stand Up comedy…..absolutely no jobs of any kind related to my professions in NE Georgia.
Between the Bible Belt Click and the Good Old Boy Network in this end of backwoods Georgia, no jobs exist beyond Deboning Chickens or Working at Walmart for poverty wages, and then only if you speak Spanish.
I stopped wasting my time on most NE Georgia projects. Of the few I have taken in the last 13 years, ALL contract jobs were booked through my out of town clients. My clients I work with are in NJ, NY, Washington State, and Phoenix (Which was the last project in Conelia, GA).
There is not a Single Comedy club North of Roswell, GA. I don’t count the Loft in Athens since they only host Open Mic comedy after 10pm on Monday nights. I don’t waste my time and travel expenses when there is no audience available.
The Punchline in Atlanta is the only Comedy Club I’ll consider Mondays. Mainly because they often sell out and have enough patrons that will come out at 8pm on a Monday Night. If they started after 10pm like the Loft, I wouldn’t be as receptive as a performer.
Granted if you are a musician, many clubs are responsive in this area, but cold toward professional comedians or other artists.
Job Hunting, especially in Gainesville, continues to be a total waste of time. The same is true in most of NE Georgia.
The wages are at poverty level, usually only part time, and at least 20 years behind Atlanta and other cities on pay scale and technology.
My biggest business mistake that caused financial hardship for me, was thinking it was a good idea to move to Gainesville. Of the few people I’ve work for locally and come to know over many years, This area of Georgia has the largest number of crooked and dishonest businessmen I’ve ever dealt with.
I thought the Dixie Mafia in control in this area was a myth, until I met some of them that bragged about their involvement. A few were my neighbors.
On the other side of the coin, then the Bible Belt Click that only hires people they go to church with that grew up here.
My tip is to avoid working in NE Georgia, unless you take your jobs from out of town clients not influenced by the crooks here.
There are occasionally good paying jobs in NE Georgia, but none from the local businesses in control.
So far, despite what is stated above, I NEVER ONCE SECURED any job through Social Networking sights. But I am aware potential employers and clients check them on current or future employee’s. So be careful what you post online be it comments or photos, chances are it will come back and bite you.
At my age and running my own business for over 20 years from home, I answer to only one man. ME!
But, with the poor economy with both IT consulting and entertainment being weak in recent years…..I may be forced to take some awful job to make ends meet. But, I will NEVER close my business or give up comedy that brings me stress relief….not to mention the money I save on Therapy.
This area of Georgia, and I know this statement is Politically incorrect, but we all know it’s accurate:
If you are an illegal Mexican, especially Bi-lingual, you will always have work, free benefits, and some lobbyist in Washington convincing our politicians you should have rights here. I’m only referring to Illegal Mexicans, many that came here legally, work circles around us, often for low wages, and have good family values…..I welcome them.
But Gainesville has some of the most dangerous Mexican Gangs in the World. MS-13 and Los Reyos just to name a couple.
Gainesville and Hall county since I’ve moved here, now has Multi Agency Nacortics (MAN) task force and Gang Units. These aren’t just local cops, we have GBI, FBI, ICE, DEA, and other federal agents here with letters in their names.
On that comment, I’d guarantee you can find work in Law Enforcement. I’ve done it myself, but burned out from risking my life to watch wimps of judges slap killers on the wrist and turn them loose on parole or with light sentences.