The Teckki Says

It happens every time.

I am in the doldrums. I can't see "up", because my hands are in my face. In these times, I'll bet that many of you have experienced this as well. This is one tough recession!

Then it happened.

The phone rang.

It is a prospect inquiring about services. That's my version of "saved by the bell".

Then, I remember the best business advice I ever got.

Hang in there.

When I first heard it, it was in the midst of the last recession, my first. I got this advice when I asked business owners who had been in business close to thirty years – they survived the recession of the early 1980's. I had also asked people who had started their businesses after that period, generally, after the early 1990's. If you remember, that was the longest economic boom in history. In all that time, a generation of businesses that knew nothing but good times faced their first downturn. Many of them did not survive.

Hang in there.

I thought to myself, "Is that all?" It was only three little words! No great pearls of wisdom, no game-changing speeches, no 3, 5, 7 or 10 steps, just three simple words.

Hang in there.

This was shorter than an elevator speech! What could this have possibly meant? I had already asked other businesspeople. Heck, they were asking me for ideas! All I could think is, "That's the best you've got!" These folks had been in business for over 30 years - that's why I asked them!

Hang in there.

I set out to find out what that meant. I did not want to offend those I asked by asking them again. Over the course of time, I discovered what those words meant. You see, they could not tell me how to run my business. Nobody can. What they were saying was find a way to stay in business. Keep the phone on. Be in a position to be contacted. Be in a position to do business with a prospect. In other words, "Hang in there."

When I think that this might be it, that I might be ready to hang up the shingle, the phone rings. This is what I am hanging in there for.

Many of you are reeling. Some of you won't survive. The economy we had will not be the economy we're going to get. Some industries will not come back. I'm not trying to further depress you. I am trying to get you to take a sober look at where you are. Many of you have a lot to offer, but not in industries that are going away. That's like trying to sail a boat in a lake that is going dry. You already know that this lake doesn’t contain all of the world’s water. My advice to you is to do all you can to find water.

And, hang in there.