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The Storm After The Calm

Guest post by: Bobby Darnell

Article Overview: Should We Be As Concerned And Prepared For Good Business Weather As We Are For Bad?

The Storm After The Calm

Two years ago, I wrote a post entitled ‘The Calm Before The Storm' which highlighted the importance of staying active in your marketing, especially when things are slowing down. Now that the market appears to begin showing new signs of life, I believe this begs the question; will we be ready once the spigot is opened up a few notches?

I know our company has experienced a healthy boost in activity from our recruiting and executive placement clients...an almost scary amount of activity. Another positive sign is a call I received from a client to tell me about a recent success that made my entire month. This particular client is the owner of a young start up and called to share how they had just landed the largest contract of his entire career; a multi-million dollar project that will keep him and his crew busy for some time.

Our web development and social media consulting has reached a fever pitch and we have definitely been ‘drinking water from a fire hose' in that department. I know these are good problems to have but I truly believe we must prepare for good times as well as bad.

Our little company, ‘Construction Market Consultants, Inc.' will be ten years old next month and while I do agree that time does fly when having fun, to say the past ten years has always been a walk in the park would be a wee bit inaccurate.

The past 18 months has been a walk in the park but instead of a stroll by the lake with children flying kites and couples picnicking, it has been more like a scurry through Central Park, at 1:00 AM with the hair on the back of your neck doing a tango while being chased by street toughs.

In preparation for what I hope to be a storm of new business, I have been reaching out and touching base with those contacts that are still in their current position or with the same company as they were ten years ago. If I have a ‘black belt' in anything, it is how I manage my contacts.

I believe one can never overestimate the importance of keeping in touch with friends, acquaintances, colleagues, associates and even near total strangers that have somehow earned their way into your list of contacts. I have found this to be important because these are the people I can turn to when I need a ‘favor' or a name that will help me solve a problem, complete a task or reach a goal.

I do not believe I am alone in my optimism. Of course, there are plenty of articles offering good news, guarded good news and not so good news; at least in our tiny world, companies are starting to hire again. I see the cup as half full and rising. As we all continue to build new business let's hope we are not like the dog that finally catches the car and has to ponder, what do I do now?

I hope the storm arrives soon and we all have to hustle fulfilling business obligations instead of trying to find them.

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Article Tags: Business Development, Construction, Construction Marketing, CRM, Sales Marketing
Referred by: http://virtualassistantindustry.com/



Related Forum Posts
Re: Businesswomen in the news - Hey hey hey....Calm down. What you are forgetting and the press isnt taking into consideration the rise of entrepreneurship. Women arent leaving the workforce, they are starting their own workforces... A few years ago I was president of the Canadian Association of Women Executives. I got a call from Global National who wanted a comment on the fact that women were leaving corporate Canada in droves....and what did I think about it......was it the glass ceiling etc.. Well, its because women are flocking to entrepreneurship but ladies, that doesnt make the news. the media is looking for information that will prove their 'the economy is in a slump'.... It simply isnt true. There are more women starting and running their own businesses than we've ever seen. Dont forget that the media is out for the media and scare tactics and bad news gets the coverage.... J
Re: Are Economic Recessions Good for Franchising? - well, I can't give you any verified stats at the moment. But, it's a fact that as more and more people face layoffs they look in the direction of franchising. These are folks that need the security of a proven business model and have resources to jump into a franchise. It's a clear trend that has been witnessed in past recessions. My concern is that we are not in a simple recession... If you look at a recession as a big storm that will create some havoc and disrupt lives, then the events we're facing in the near future could be a supersized hurricane. We're heading into uncharted waters. High fuel costs, which will probably fluctuate for a while then jump again High debt loads... now in the trillions Sinking housing market... how low will it go? The US war machine is in full swing... with eyes on IRAN All of these factors are clashing to create the Perfect Storm and I don't like it one bit. I tell ya, there's a bunch of madmen at the helm. So how does this bode for franchising? jeez... I don't know... I'm gonna get myself a double scotch on the rocks. Cheers.


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