Why you need to take your business to the next level.

Despite the media constantly bombarding us with news of the current economic climate, now is not the time to be cutting back on your marketing or putting off that training/coaching/mentoring programme.

No definitely not. Now is the time to get even better at what you do, and that means investing in your business development to allow it to grow so that you not only stand out from your competitors, but so that you will then prosper in a weak market and be miles ahead of your competitors when the economy recovers.

Your services and products might have been good enough last year but to maintain the same results, the same profits, this year its essential to increase your skills so you can provide an even better service to your customers as this will really pay off in the long run. Here’s a story about what not to do.

The Man Who Sold Hot Dogs

There was a man who lived by the side of the road and sold hot dogs. He was hard of hearing so he had no radio. He had trouble with his eyes so he read no newspapers. But he sold good hot dogs. He put up signs on the highway telling people how good the hot dogs were. He stood by the side of the road and cried, “Buy a hot dog mister?” And people bought.
He increased his meat and bun orders. He bought a bigger stove to take care of his trade. He finally got his son home from college to help him out.
But then something happened.
His son said, “Father, haven’t you been listening to the radio? Haven’t you been reading the newspapers? There’s a big recession. The European situation is terrible. The domestic situation is worse.”
Whereupon the father thought, “Well, my son’s been to college, he reads the newspapers and he listens to the radio. He ought to know.”

So the father cut down on his bun orders, took down his advertising signs and no longer bothered to stand out on the highway selling hot dogs. And his hot dog sales fell almost overnight. “You’re right, son,” the old man said to his boy. “We’re certainly in the middle of a great recession.”