Greetings from Sabah in Malaysian Borneo. My wife and I are currently staying in beautiful Kota Kinabalu, just above the equator in a gorgeous and lush tropical paradise. The hotel is 5-star luxury and no expense has been spared in entertaining us and the other guests on this trip. The meals are magnificent, the cocktail parties plentiful and the activities highly enjoyable. Best of all, its all basically free.
I have been fortunate to enjoy great success with my business since buying it back in 2005. A lot of that can be attributed to the team I have built, the planning I have done, the manner in which we conduct business in general. However, we have also been fortunate to have been trading in a very strong economy here in Australia. In short, times have been good.
The thing is that I am not foolish enough to believe these good times will last forever. The dark economic clouds forming over the American economy are a warning that tougher times may be on the way. It is also inevitable that my business will confront some challenges that will test our resolve. I heard someone say once that you are most vunerable when you are successful, and with that in mind I have begun to consider what to do in tough times, either economically, personally or when a business disaster strikes. Here is what I have come up with so far:
Following is an excellent old post I recently came across on the the well-written Genius Types blog. Its about just getting on with your dreams rather than making excuses or waiting for the perfect time to start. I believe its very true.
The Perfect Time to Start Never Comes
When is the perfect time to start a business, lose weight, start investing, become an artist, travel the world, or create the life you have always wanted?
I recently discussed my ambitions for the coming year in "Making the most of your freedom". Now that I have returned home and back to work I have set about implementing my plans for 2008.
My greatest challenge appears to be juggling a business and some lofty ambitions for the year with my lifestyle goals of working less, travelling and pursuing my sporting interests. Here is what I wish to do in 2008.....
Most of us go through life feeling imprisoned by our jobs, businesses or personal circumstances. I have been fortunate enough to learn that life doesn't need to be that way. I started 2007 with a desire to reduce my workload, increase my income and gain more personal freedom
to pursue the areas of my life which interest me the most.
Last post I wrote that I believe that buying a business can be
preferable to starting a new business. Its less
risky, comes with
built in cash-flow and proven concepts.
But what should you look for in an existing business? What is the right type of business to buy?
First and foremost I believe the business should be one you actually want to be in. It should be a field you have some reasonable knowledge of, and it should be something you enjoy doing. We are trying to build a Perfect Life after all.
Most entrepreneurs dream about starting their own business. The
urge to create a new entity or service is
undeniable for many.
However for every successful start-up there are 20 who failed. The business world is littered with the broken dreams of starry-eyed entrepreneurs.
A much safer bet, in my opinion, is to buy an existing business.
I can write on this topic from great experience with both start-ups and purchasing mature businesses. All my failures have been start-ups and all my successes have been from buying existing operations.
Usually at this time of year I start thinking about next year. Sure there are
still three months to go, all of
those busy trading months, but by now my
head is already in next year.
I like to plan 6 months ahead of the business. I believe its difficult to plan much further ahead if you have a dynamic business that is evolving quickly, but it is essential to be looking forward to what might happen next.
This time last year I stunned my staff by sitting them all down and explaining the lay of the land as I saw it. We had enjoyed a strong year and were poised for even better but I was somewhat paranoid.
Last month I wrote an update on my progress since adopting and
implementing my strategies for a perfect
life. In it I outlined the actions
I had taken and results I had seen.
Most of the benefits I described related to the improvement in my lifestyle. Less stress, happier, better health, more freedom. The one area I haven't elaborated on is income.
For me, the objective here isn't to become insanely rich. I am trying to build a robust, highly profitable business that allows me to live extremely well without the constant pressure and stress of maintaining such a lifestyle. Obviously a high income is part of it but it is not the be all and end all.
So, many fiscally focussed readers may be wondering whether my strategies have been profitable, or whether I have just been creating a lazy workers paradise that sacrifices profit for fun and an easy lifestyle.
I am happy to announce that you can have your cake and eat it too. The business is performing remarkably well. In the two years since I purchased this agency (now in it's 30th year) it has grown 35%. That's been good solid growth for a mature business.
Are you like so many people who complain that there are never enough hours in the day? Do you find that get to the end of the working day only to find that you are yet to complete everything you intended?
There was a time when I could relate to this. Days would rush by, I would have to work longer hours or take work home, there was no end in sight.
Fortunately a simple change of perspective and better focus and organisation mean that I now do twice as much in half the time.
Time is our most precious resource. Once its gone we can't get it back. We need to make the most of our time and use it for the things that really matter, be it work, family, relaxation, education. The biggest thing we should avoid is wasting time. Thats why I like to get things done then move onto my other life passions.
Like most of you I have many things on my plate. I run an ad agency and deal directly with the top 6 clients, manage an online business, write 3 different blogs, spend time with my wife and two young sons, cycle competitively, surf, travel and have a healthy social life. I can manage all of this without feeling stressed or pressured each week. In fact if I wanted to do more, I could easily.
Whats the secret? Well its not rocket science and its probably nothing you haven't heard before, but if you are disciplined enough to follow these rules your working days will be much more productive, and hopefully you will gain plenty of time to do more things you really want to do.
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