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Bob Puccini

Lessons Learned: Don't Panic
October 15, 2008

As I write this, the stock market has dropped dramatically and the only conversations I hear around my office, which is not on Wall Street, is that the sky is falling.

Over the course of my career I have endured several economic upheavals, inflation, recession and unemployment - and all have affected me both positively and negatively. To me, these upheavals affect me in two ways: personally and professionally. Of course, you can say that there is only a slight difference between the two, but one happens to you personally, such as losing your job. The other puts a great deal of pressure on your business, which can affect many others too. 

Remember that you will always have an element of control. Now is the time to adjust, to reevaluate what you are doing and with whom, to increase efficiencies and to reinvent your business, or yourself, and evolve.

Recessions also force you to take a look at yourself and your team. Are you doing everything you should be doing to create a successful survivable business? What things can you do today to enhance or reposition your business because you can be sure that one day this economy will come out of the recession. Economic upheavals of the past have also been great personal awakenings for me. For example, after 9/11 one of the hotels I leased a restaurant in went bankrupt and my restaurant suffered horribly - more to the point it closed. I personally took some significant financial hits, but I can tell you I certainly learned how to react quickly in a crisis.

Look at the lessons that this recession will teach you and take those lessons to heart so you can come out of these uncertain times more dominant in your market than before the recession hit.

Overall, you will win some, and lose some, but if you are guided by the fear of failing then you will not be able to focus your attention on evolving, reinventing or maybe just surviving. I have found that the worst thing to do is panic and hold on too tightly to what you have in hopes that you will be okay. Now is the time for nimble thinking and action. Where are the holes in the market that you can take advantage of? What niche markets exist for support? Take a hard look at your new business realities that are different today from where they were even three months ago.

Posted by Bob Puccini on October 15, 2008 | Comments (2)