Recession? What Recession!?

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Being an entrepreneur is ridiculously hard. My (strange) analogy of how difficult it is can be put this way:

If life were a river of beautiful experiences in which the you either swim or let the current take you, being an entrepreneur is like forging your own stream. Now during these times perhaps its like shaping that stream with a spoon.

That being said, this is no time to have one's head in the sand or just blindly soldier on. Yes it is truly hard to be and live as an entrepreneur in this financially unstable climate. YET, if it wasn't hard why would be entrepreneurs in the first place? Building your own business should never ever be easy, if it were I'd be terribly worried.

Perhaps there is a recession going on right now, perhaps not, or perhaps its just a slow slide or recovery. I've heard from early optimistic financial forecasts that the recession should come to a close around July. The key thing here is to be able to separate the fact from fiction and neither be swayed by the hype or hysteria. The bottom line is, this too, shall pass. Recessions do, on occasion, occur as the downward cycle of any economy.

During the last two months the office I worked in did extremely well and several people were making a killing in sales. This wasn't just selling shoes, this was real estate. This was clearly in contrast to the doom and gloom that the newspapers and media spun. So what gives? There are indeed people making a money (if not a lot of money) and profiting from this shift in the financial landscape. On top of that, financial analysist state that in a persons life time, they will face at least two recessions.

My first experience of this was in 1985 at age seven, during the big market crash. My dad took some advice from an accountant to invest in several homes, mere months from the market crash. Unfortunately nobody could predict the future. We all were effected by that in someway or form. Sure, I was seven, but in hindsight that still could be felt. Now even more so I have the power to shape how I roll with things. When I was seven all I could do is put on the blinders and focus on whats ahead of me. Ie. growing up

So this would be my second. I'm fully expecting and planning for a third.

So what do we do? We certainly cannot stick our heads in the sand and wait for it to blow over. As entrepreneurs our fat reserves are already lean as it is. We can also regress and put those blinders on and be nieve to the situation around us. This too is not an option. I believe that if an entrepreneur can survive, if not thrive in this recession then all the better. This is one of those defining times in which the all the featherweights run and go back to their day job.

Now more than ever its important to continue to invest in our networks and strengthen our bonds with current clients. We may not be able to help others by shelling out loads of cash to bail them out. But there is more than one way to help someone. There is strength in numbers and its during the hardest of times that trust and friendship are truest. By the sheer act of sharing the experience and doing whatever you can to help others, it can and does come back. Now more than ever this is not a time to count favours, or reserve that special contact for oneself.

Visualization is also key. If it means putting up a hokey picture of your dream home on some secluded island, then so be it. Look at it every day. To quote Robert Kiyosaki "Do-Be-Have". The key is to keep doing whats needed to be done, EVERY day. Galvinization only comes through having a clear and focused goal, regardless of the climate.

Check out free seminars hosted by Enterprise Toronto (Link HERE). Perhaps you already have all the information but, again there is strength in numbers, surrounding yourself with other entrepreneurs who are struggling is a great way to network and find out how you can help each other.

The bottom line is. Its not what you know, its who you know. (To be edited)