Perhaps a contrary point of view, but I believe that the current market and economic turmoil makes it a very exciting time to be an entrepreneur and to bet on entrepreneurs, and will eventually be quite beneficial to their businesses. Gone are the days, especially in the B2B environment, when customers can afford to ignore a “better mousetrap” (especially where they drive in-year cost reductions or productivity improvements), or make “safe” decisions to choose inferior offerings just because they come from bigger brands where one is protected in the event of failure — there is NO room for failure now. Yes it is a tough environment in which to acquire new customers, service products, meet commitments and to raise financing. On the other hand, entrepreneurs and business builders are uniquely positioned to use the harsh environment to succeed — we’ve always had to bring adaptability, innovation and hunger every day, even in the good times, to build our businesses, do more with less and make something out of nothing. Now, those same qualities should result in a lot more airtime with our stakeholders, while multinational competitors are busy internally focused on retrenching, cutting overhead, reducing trade credit from 60 days to 15 days, etc. etc.
To all entrepreneurs … this is our time now. It is a unique opportunity to make some noise, increase productivity, commercialize innovation and create jobs. We’ve always been the shock troops on the front lines of the economy, and it is time for us to lead the charge once again.
Long live the entrepreneur, and Never Fu@#ing Quit !!!
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