Yesterday morning, driving into the office, I could literally feel the car being battered by the strong winds and driving rain. Reports on the radio from other parts of the country, particularly the south west were of 80 mile an hour winds, trees being uprooted and general mayhem as river levels rose and the threat of serious damage rapidly grew.
How long this current bout of extreme weather will last seems a matter for conjecture and of course the full extent of the damage will not be known for some time.
Instant parallels spring to mind with regard to the state of the British economy. Last week was one of the worst on record for bad news. With the stock market down more than 3%, and the latest US unemployment figures showing the number of people losing their job last month at it’s highest for 5 years, the prospects are looking bleak. Companies reporting on the UK stock market had mixed results with the banks generally producing excellent figures and John Lewis achieving record results. Nevertheless, the word coming out from many retailers is that the high street is a place of doom and gloom.
Whichever way you look at it, the prospects of recession seem high.
So what does this all mean for the small business? Is it a good time to be starting up a new business? What should existing businesses be doing?
These are all issues that I intend to discuss in future blogs, but one thing is for certain, in difficult times, you do need to “batten down the hatches”. It doesn’t necessarily mean cutting out all expenditure, but a complete review of your expenses, eliminating discretionary items, is often a good way to start. Having lived and worked through recessions in the 1980s and 90s, I know that decisive management and prompt action is often critical. Difficult circumstances call for difficult decisions and they shouldn’t be shied away from. This is an opportunity to review your business and implement changes quickly.
Unlike the weather, it is possible to maintain control even in stormy economic times.