Start The World - I Want To Stay On

Most of you are familiar with the stage play and movie entitled "Stop the World - I Want to Get Off!". The show depicts the seven ages of man, from birth to death, personified by the character of Littlechap, who shouts "Stop the World" when life takes on too rapid a pace or things do not go his way.

Unlike Littlechap, today's entrepreneur is saying, "The pace of life is too slow," "It takes forever to make a decision," "Things are not going my way," -- "Start the world - I want to stay on!" Even though entrepreneurs have exciting goals and a high level of enthusiasm for the success of their venture, down and discouraging times will come their way. How do they hang on, ride the storm, and reap the rewards?

This article will focus on four key areas that will strengthen your grip on your dream and help you navigate the inevitable troubling times.

Focus your Resources
Look seriously at the return for every dollar that is expended. Put off any purchases, upgrades, or expansion items that are not absolutely necessary. Every dollar saved means one more dollar toward that contingency fund that may mean the difference between surviving the downturn and closing your doors.

Revenue is not generated inside your organization. Use your time to get out, meet potential clients, identify new products, and generate interest. Use your off-prime hours to design brochures, write letters, make lists, and review proposals. Prime-time hours should be focused on business-producing activities outside the walls of your company.

Use your creativity to explore options for capitalizing on the slow times. Now is not the time to think outside the box, it is the time to throw the box away and put every impossible, crazy, outrageous thought on the table.

Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out…John Wooden.

Increase your Activity Level
When decisions are slow to be made, purchasing has slowed to a trickle, companies are not buying, prices are being driven down - you need to pick up your level of activity. Instead of five calls a day, make ten; instead of ten letters to prospects, write fifteen; instead of one networking event, attend three; and renew your interest in alumni functions, Chamber of Commerce mixers, and any other gathering where you can reach those potential customers.

Be Positive
Now is not the time for pity parties! Now is the time to be positive in your attitude, increase your level of enthusiasm, and know that you will succeed. There is nothing to be gained and a lot of potential customers to turn off with a gloom and doom approach. As Littlechap said, "…Gonna build a mountain, Gonna build it high! I don't know how I'm gonna do it, Only know I'm gonna try."

Be Persistent
Success does not come in one single jump! It comes through putting one foot in front of the other no matter how rough the road!

A producer told Gene Autry in 1938 that he had no future in Hollywood. Dr. Seuss was told by his high school art teacher that he would never learn to draw. His Dartmouth College fraternity voted him least likely to succeed. His first book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, was rejected twenty-seven times before an editor agreed to take a chance on it. They both persisted and they both succeeded. Do not give up!

Renew your Commitment
You have a dream and you are in the process of making that dream come true. You took a risk; you had the courage to take that first step; and you are still in the game! Renew your commitment to your dream! It is worth the battle!

The world will start! STAY ON!