Kundun Consulting

Well it has been a little while and I must apologise - but my world has definitely been on a roller coaster lately.

The financial market issues that we have at the moment creates a real challenge for many businesses - mine included. But it does also create real opportunities.

Please if you are in small business stay away from the media - it is just too negative - and you need to stay positive!

Instead focus your energies on your business. Make sure that you have your processes and systems in place. Everything from sending out statements, to interest rate and exchange rate management, to looking at how and what your people are doing to help you through this short short term glitch.

I read a very interesting statistic the other day care of Seth Godin .

Apparently Time Inc has previously reported that the majority of top 500 companies in the US started after 9/11.

Now that got me thinking. If your business is not taking an opportunity because of fear - maybe the right time is now!

This probably goes beyond the normal accounting conservatism approach but these are not times for conservatism. Getting into a position where the cycles of business are not so difficult to navigate, is a scenario that we all should be tying to achieve. Risks , that are calculated, are worth pursuing, if you have made the right analysis and have control of where your business is heading.

To highlight this fact I must rekindle my fond memories of Brownie - my favourite barrista! He decided to shut his small kiosk and has taken ownership of a brand new shop around the corner. He is now operating a thriving business again - and serving his loyal customer base. I asked him why he decided to take such a risk in such uncertain times and his answer was:

“Simple really, I couldn’t meet demand and needed to give my customers a better experience. I had built up such a custom that people were prepared to spend a lot of time waiting - but they deserved more. I looked at what I thought would fix that and went and took the lease out on this place.”

He then went onto tell me that he had in fact partnered up with a caterer who was sharing the kitchen. Together they had created a business that served great coffee and great food - basically he has spread the risk and doubled his income. Not bad for these bad times hey!

There will be many opportunities to come the way of those businesses that are willing to take a stake in their future. Why shouldn’t it be you.