The Brexit effect;GDPR on the horizon;rising costs and squeezed budgets. UK businesses have been hit with a barrage of bad news over past months. As business owners, we'd all be forgiven for feeling somewhat bewildered; a little unsure of what to do next in the face of rapid change. Some will batten down the hatches. Some will downsize. Others will rise to the occasion.
This should include you.
As business owners, it's up to us to find opportunities to thrive in instability. Uncertain times offer rich opportunities for business, because every customer faces unseen, unprecedented challenges. Instead of doubling down with your existing offering, ask yourself: what new pressures do my target customers face today that I could reasonably solve? Act on your answers with new products or services.
Strike out with confidence. In shifting conditions, businesses and customers seek stability and surety wherever they can find it. Acting authoritatively and looking and sounding confident in your field is more important than ever.
Have the confidence to keep on marketing. Too often, business owners panic and cut their marketing-sales budgets in unstable periods, instead focusing on operations and existing customers. But this represents a false economy. Without new customers, your business is shrinking.
Choosing not to do marketing means choosing to leave sales success to chance - which is doubly dangerous when prospective customers are also looking to cut their budgets. We can't determine our working conditions, but we can choose how we respond to them. So go on: be bold in business and marketing in ‘Brexit Britain’.
How can you afford not to?