The past few weeks I have been 'lunching' with different people, reconnecting in the New Year. Undoubtedly, one of the early topics is how 2010 is starting off for our Indianapolis marketing firm, Element Three, and what we learned in 2009.
I want to be certain that I don't forget what 2009 taught me; so, I thought it would be a good idea to write it down. We're not always given the option of whether or not we go through a difficult time, but we do have the option of deciding to learn from it.
This is what I learned in 2009:
1) Cash really is King. It's not just an old business adage. It is the fundamental lifeblood to any organization. Without it you cannot get the resources you need to produce your product, to market, to sell - to do anything. Access to cash allows you to move forward.
2) There is no substitute for experience, no matter how smart you are. I thought I knew a lot about business. Having my own business from the age of 15 and growing up in a very entrepreneurial home - I have been around business for a long time. I've been told about lean times and hard seasons, and lived through them as the child of an entrepreneur - but never lived through it as a business owner. I will be more prudent as a result of 2009; in my spending and my decision-making. Both personally and professionally.
3) The greatest gift someone can ever give you, is forgiveness. I made some bad decisions in 2009 that had an adverse impact on the Element Three team. To receive forgiveness from those I hurt was an incredibly humbling experience. I hope that I will have the grace to extend such forgiveness to others. For their forgiveness, I am eternally grateful.
4) Good companies go out of business. In my naivete, I thought only bad companies went out of business. That only crappy companies with crappy products and services were the ones that didn't make it. Not so. Many great companies cannot make it through seasons like 2009 because they're not capitalized well, they have big client pull back, inventory levels that are too high or just are not ready to throw their life savings into the company to get it through the rough patch. There were some great companies and great people who were casualties of 2009. We're immensely thankful we were not one of them.
5) In tough times, you have to Decide. You have to decide you want to survive. 2009 taught me that in tough times you cannot be ruled by your emotions, because emotions cannot be trusted. You have to decide you're going to get out of bed in the morning, because you're probably not going to feel like it. You have to decide you are going to make the tough phone calls and that you're going to be honest with yourself about the difficult decisions that have to be made to keep the organization alive. You're not going to feel like laying people off. You're not going to feel like making cold calls. You have to Decide you're going to.
In a crazy way, I'm thankful for 2009. It made me grow up in ways a better economy might not have and it made me more thankful for my family, my husband and my daughter.
I'm curious, what did 2009 teach you? Did you decide to learn from it?
I want to be certain that I don't forget what 2009 taught me; so, I thought it would be a good idea to write it down. We're not always given the option of whether or not we go through a difficult time, but we do have the option of deciding to learn from it.
This is what I learned in 2009:
1) Cash really is King. It's not just an old business adage. It is the fundamental lifeblood to any organization. Without it you cannot get the resources you need to produce your product, to market, to sell - to do anything. Access to cash allows you to move forward.
2) There is no substitute for experience, no matter how smart you are. I thought I knew a lot about business. Having my own business from the age of 15 and growing up in a very entrepreneurial home - I have been around business for a long time. I've been told about lean times and hard seasons, and lived through them as the child of an entrepreneur - but never lived through it as a business owner. I will be more prudent as a result of 2009; in my spending and my decision-making. Both personally and professionally.
3) The greatest gift someone can ever give you, is forgiveness. I made some bad decisions in 2009 that had an adverse impact on the Element Three team. To receive forgiveness from those I hurt was an incredibly humbling experience. I hope that I will have the grace to extend such forgiveness to others. For their forgiveness, I am eternally grateful.
4) Good companies go out of business. In my naivete, I thought only bad companies went out of business. That only crappy companies with crappy products and services were the ones that didn't make it. Not so. Many great companies cannot make it through seasons like 2009 because they're not capitalized well, they have big client pull back, inventory levels that are too high or just are not ready to throw their life savings into the company to get it through the rough patch. There were some great companies and great people who were casualties of 2009. We're immensely thankful we were not one of them.
5) In tough times, you have to Decide. You have to decide you want to survive. 2009 taught me that in tough times you cannot be ruled by your emotions, because emotions cannot be trusted. You have to decide you're going to get out of bed in the morning, because you're probably not going to feel like it. You have to decide you are going to make the tough phone calls and that you're going to be honest with yourself about the difficult decisions that have to be made to keep the organization alive. You're not going to feel like laying people off. You're not going to feel like making cold calls. You have to Decide you're going to.
In a crazy way, I'm thankful for 2009. It made me grow up in ways a better economy might not have and it made me more thankful for my family, my husband and my daughter.
I'm curious, what did 2009 teach you? Did you decide to learn from it?
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