Think like a man of action, and act like a man of thought.
Sallust
As an amateur racecar driver I am keenly aware that sooner or later you will have an accident. It’s not a question of if, but when. Even for the most successful racecar drivers, the odds of having an accident at some point in their career are 100 percent. It’s going to happen. The only real question is, how severe will the crash be? Running a business is similar to driving a racecar. Sooner or later your business will experience rough times, where sales and revenue struggle, customers flee, and the situation seems bleak. I know from my own 30 years of experience that there are moments when the high of success is tempered by the stark realization that things are slipping away from you.
What separates the ultimate winners from the defeated is what happens after your business has begun to spin out of control and hit the wall. Long-term success means being able to withstand these bumps in the road and taking the necessary steps to get yourself back on track and up to speed. Here are six things that I believe can save your business and will help you avoid disaster when things get difficult.
1. Look in the Mirror
Success begins and ends with the business leader. So the first problem that needs to be solved may be you. Do you avoid the risk of change? Are you too proud to admit something is wrong or not working properly. Are you empowering your employees? Do you have a “play to win” attitude or are you playing not to lose?
Being a closed-minded leader who clings to a failing personal agenda is like grabbing a cement block when you are drowning. You are going to the bottom and fast! Fear or reluctance to change is the single biggest reason that businesses fail. Markets and consumer tastes are dynamic and fluid, which requires a business leader who has the mettle to encourage change — even when you are uncomfortable with it.
Too often the tipping point in a business failure comes when the business leader decides that it is now time to play NOT to lose instead of playing to win. When you play to win you are always moving forward, looking for new opportunities, willing to step outside your comfort zone and embracing risk. Playing NOT to lose means abandoning the strategy that propelled your success. You are now in protection mode and hunker down in a defensive posture. Games are won by outscoring the opponent and you just can’t save your way to greatness. You need to change your mindset and embrace an “I want to win” attitude.
2. Don’t Be a Prisoner of Hope
Being a prisoner of hope means living in a false reality where we hope that problems will solve themselves or conditions will change for the better rather than doing something ourselves to improve the situation. What transforms a business from dream to reality is execution and making something happen. That same strategy is what frees a prisoner from the bonds of hope — we do rather than wish.
A classic sign of the prisoner of hope is a business leader who is waiting for external conditions, like the economy, to improve rather than acting. But only through execution and action can a struggling business really begin moving forward. Prisoners are also trapped by the fear of failure but it is only by failing (productive failures as opposed to unproductive ones) that we can understand the right direction in which to go. Failure will not give you the right answer but at least by attempting the business is doing something rather than doing nothing.
Difficult times require business leaders to step out of their comfort zones and take action. Action is reality and a false reality is when we are trapped by our fear and defer execution until conditions improve, an ambiguous scenario. The business leader who is not trapped by hope has a philosophy of making something happen every day.
3. Know Who You Are
Advertising great David Ogilvy said that you must be known for something. What your business does is less important than who it is. Every business must do something or it wouldn’t be a business. Disney World isn’t in the amusement park business; it creates a magical experience that captivates guests’ imaginations. It brings to life the wonderful stories that children adore. From the moment you drive into the parking lot, the Disney characters are brought to life. And those are not just carnival rides you wait in line an hour for, but explorations of Disney classics. That’s who Disney is.
A little about me and my expertise – video
commercial / investment real estate / Arizona land specialist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPs3kpKR4nY
I go to great heights to sell or purchase your land
http://walter-unger.com/?p=10118
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Phoenix,_Arizona_history
3
Facts of Arizona – year 1848 to 2013
http://walter-unger.com/?p=9507
4.
Feel free to contact Walter regarding any of these stories, the current market, distressed commercial real estate opportunities and needs, your property or your Investment Needs for Comercial Investment Properties in Phoenix.
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Walter Unger CCIM, CCSS, CCLS
I am a successful Commercial Investment Real Estate Broker in Arizona now for 20 years and I worked with banks and their commercial REO properties for 3 years. I am also a commercial landspecialist in Phoenix and a Landspecialist in Arizona.
WHETHER YOU LEASE OR OWN
NOW IS THE TIME FOR YOU TO EXPAND, UPGRADE OR INVEST.
we are at on the a rise of the cycle in Commercial Real Estate. so there is only one way and it’s called we are going up and now is the time for you to expand, upgrade or invest in Commercial Properties in Phoenix. The prices on deals I may get you will not be around forever.
If you have any questions about Commercial Investment Properties in Phoenix or Commercial Investment Properties in Arizona, I will gladly sit down with you and share my expertise and my professional opinion in Commercial Properties in Phoenix or Commercial Properties in Arizona with you.Obviously I am also in this to make money, but it could be a win-win situation for all of us.
Please reply by e-mail walterunger@ccim.net or call me on my cell 520-975-5207 or Office:480-948-5554
Thank You
Walter
Walter Unger CCIM
Associate Broker, West USA Commercial Real Estate Advisers
7077 E. Marilyn Road, Bldg 4, Suite 130
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
Cell: 520-975-5207
Office : 480-948-5554
Fax: (480-658-1172
View my listings and my profile at:
http://www.loopnet.com/Profile/14101172900/Walter-Unger-CCIM/
a little about me and my expertise – video
commercial-investment real estate adviser-land specialist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPs3kpKR4nY
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