Double-edged Sword Economy

We are experiencing an extraordinarily interesting economy. Much less business is going on than a couple of years ago. Prices have fallen. Companies are teetering on collapse. The government is becoming a dominant force in the business sector, actually owning businesses and controlling them to an extent. The stock market is rising as it compares itself to six months ago, instead of two years ago.

We have millions unemployed and millions taking pay cuts to stay employed. Yet, there are opportunities.

Prices have fallen, making it more attractive than ever to buy product or even businesses. Cash is king, so if you have it, you're in the driver's seat.

But the thing is--and this is what is most amazing--many companies are not taking advantage of opportunities because of perception. They are not buying that business jet at a reduced cost because it will look bad to the shareholders. They are not buying that new building for their headquarters at 45% off because it will look wasteful. They are not investing in a tournament or a sponsorship because it's a bad message to employees and shareholders, yet it is at a bargain-basement price and it is believed that it would help grow the business. If they do own sponsorships, the corporations in some cases are taking their name off so that no one knows their involvement.

It's a double-edged sword economy. The corporations and individuals that will greatly benefit will have to face up to perception issues and weather that storm. Those that avoid the perception battle, will watch the opportunities slip away.


Barry LaBov
LaBov and Beyond
www.labov.com

Priorities vs. Options

In a previous post, we focused on the fact that non-priorities can be detrimental to progress. We have to clear them out of our minds and out of our way. That leaves us with priorities.

A common pitfall I see is confusing priorities with options. Just because you have a top priority, it doesn't mean your other priorities are now options--they may still be priorities and need to be tackled now.

If we can remove the non-priorities out of our way, that frees us up to focus on the critical issues, tasks and opportunities. That should clear our minds a little, and it ensures that we find some way to make sure every priority is handled successfully, not just the top one or two.

In a challenging economy we don't really have a choice as to which priorities to focus on.


Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
http://www.labov.com/

It's the non-priorities that you have to watch

At corporations, large and small, in general, there are less sales going on. So, we should be less busy, right? Wrong. It may be busier than ever.

Since there are less people at corporations, that means we are tackling more responsibilities, more territory and more responsibility. Plus, if we're focusing on attracting new business, we may be overwhelmed with prospects that require attention.

That's why we have to fully comprehend what our non-priorities are. We have plenty of priorities--those things that are vital to our business. But if we don't watch out, we'll spend our time on things that are urgent and of the moment, but are clearly not key to our success.

Imagine a corporation that sells over a billion dollars of product yearly. They have a great brand, excellent product and are strong potential for growth. But they are tempted to dilute that focus on pet projects that clearly don't have the magnitude of a number of other, less glamorous, issues that could be tackled. Yes, their people are busy, yes they have exciting things going on. But if they don't identify the non-priorities, they will be facing a disappointing year and plenty of lost opportunities.

It's not easy for all of us to do it, but with restricted resources and opportunities, the non-priorities have got to be identified and put on the shelf for someone else to tackle or for a different day (and economy).

Barry LaBov
LaBov and Beyond
http://www.labov.com/