The following is a guest post by Robert Tuchman, the author of Young Guns: The Fearless Entrepreneur’s Guide to Chasing Your Dreams and Breaking Out on Your Own.
We stand now with the tide of hard times lapping at our feet, and of soft, comfortable times slowly being drawn out to sea. With the soft times going and the hard ones coming, we must alter the way we live in order to persevere.
One thing you can do to brace yourself is to go back to your suppliers—to your telephone provider, landlord, car dealer—and renegotiate. Go to the people you are paying out to, and renegotiate on the contracts you had made with them. See if they are willing to pull back at all. Although they are dealing with the same slow-down as you are, you will find that they are more willing to cut you some slack than lose you as a customer.
I cannot stress enough the need for products you are selling to be presented in more detail. You must make the clients understand your philosophy and your product. Market better! Understand where people are coming from: be compassionate with their concerns. Be willing to work out payment plans for potential clients.
With today’s adversity constant pulling on your being, implore as much persistence and fortitude as you can muster. When you are stuck and everything is working against you, when it seems like you cannot last a second longer, you must persist, for it is at that peak in struggle that you will conquer and turn the tides.
Thinking about starting your own business? Check out Roberts book Young Guns: The Fearless Entrepreneur’s Guide to Chasing Your Dreams and Breaking Out on Your Own.
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Renegotiating is key (unless you’re on the other end of it). Great suggestions!
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