Financial markets globally have been on a wild, roller coaster ride, mostly downward, with the CNN Money headline du jour: “Recession Fears Sink Stocks.”  Ok , so it looks bleak. Dark clouds hover.  What’s a business to do?

If the financial giants, like Lehman Brothers, get cut off at the knees, what are medium and small or mom and pop businesses, entrepreneurs and one man or woman shops to do?  As credit dries up, clients stop spending, the list of receivables gets longer as many formerly good customers either can’t pay their bills or hold on to their money longer, where is the light at the end of the tunnel?

The answer is “Don’t wait for that.”  As the old joke goes “That could be the next train coming through.”

Harold Geneen, the great manager of ITT’s then 250 some odd international companies in varied industries used to repeat: ” Management must manage.” He said it over and over until it was almost a mantra. What he meant was that a manager truly had to try to get this arms around all the relevant facts and information, then, whatever the facts were, he had to take whatever actions were necessary to achieve his company’s goals and make a profit from the situation.

In good times and bad, “management must manage.” If there’s no money, a disaster, a war, your product blows up in your face or you’ve run out of cash, management must still manage. In other words, don’t complain, don’t explain; try to figure the situation out, solve the problem, and do something to get moving again. Momentum counts . Confronting the problem and taking action reassures and leads on to success.

I think we can all agree we are in tough times, headed into stormy waters. What’s the next step?

Chris Brogan, in The Beauty of Pirate Ships creates a bold and original metaphor comparing what our mind set should be to the laser like focus of pirates zeroing in on the treasure, racing towards the gold, brushing aside all lesser concerns to reach their single minded objective – capturing the bounty :

Chris says: “We need to focus harder on the goals than we do the infrastructure, the excuses, the labels, and everything else that gets between us and a goal.

… Get hungry. Figure out the goal, that thing you’re going to claw your way towards, and set that goal on FIRE. Make it a blazing beacon that guides you in all decisions.

Some companies are hunkering down, cutting their spending, tightening their expenditures. Some are laying off, getting lean. Others are slashing their projects and sticking with what they’d been doing for the next year, shifting their efforts into preserving what they have instead of pushing forward.

I think that’s the worst plan in the world,” Chris says. “Forget the ship. Don’t preserve the ship. Go after the prize. Take on the far more dangerous-but-rewarding stance of seeking the treasure. If you’re a company, set the targets and launch your ships.”

Chris’s take on this is reinforced in a comment by one of his readers, Kathlyn who adds: “This is not a time for hand-wringing but a time for doing.  – if the ship doesn’t hold together, swim.”

Which reminded me of a remark by John F. Kennedy.  When asked if he were marooned on a desert island, what is the one book he’d most want to have with him.  Without skipping a beat, JFK responded: ” The best book in the world on building your own boat.”

So, how do you go about building your own boat?  Anytime there’s a really dark cloud, there’s always a flip side, a silver lining or an opportunity hiding in there somewhere.  Your job is to spot it.

One example: Corporate travel can be reined in but it can’t come screeching to a complete halt.  So it goes on, but not quite as before.  Five-star rooms are down.  But cheaper hotel rooms, budget and mid-market hotels are experiencing explosive growth.

What does this mean for you?  Chris goes on, in the same post, to say: “If you’re in marketing, maybe that means going after some big companies while your competitors retrench to support the existing companies. If you’re a software company, this is your call to see where the real goal is, and set course. If you’re a realtor, especially commercial, find the leverage, find the people seriously navigating, and make the deals. If you’re a freelancer out there, do you need an alliance? Do you need a floating armada? Make for the brightest goal, and let all the “rethinkers and re-trenchers” behind you.

Just remember, particularly in tough times, cash flow is critical.  Watch your numbers. A little creative redeployment, some adjustments, and , believe it or not, at times turning away business–unprofitable business or those who can’t pay promptly– developing a plan based on the true financials and having the discipline to stick to it usually turn the tide and put you on the road to profitability.  After you survive the storm, you’ll come out stronger for it, more experienced and a better leader.  How’s that for a silver lining?

For more, read see:

The Beauty of Pirate Ships | chrisbrogan.com.

Start Your Own Small Business Using More Ingenuity, Less Cash

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