You're a Wounded Soldier, What Do You Do Now?

It appears we are headed into some degree of recession. I am of the camp that believes there is little the White House can do to change the normal cycles of the stock market and the economy in general. With the recently approved stimulus package and more Fed rate cuts, I still think we are going to just add a slow economy to the other challenges we face as small business owners this year and next.

During a previous recession, we got ourselves into some trouble when we had gotten involved in some offshore work that got bungled up and had shifted marketing dollars out of where our foundation of business lie. It was a big mistake. We were scrambling for a quick fix.

During that time, I consulted with a man from SCORE (www.score.org). He was a salty old guy and pretty darn smart. I was purging some files and found all kinds of old notes and things he'­d given me.

I think this is worth sharing:

"You're a wounded soldier in unbearable pain during WWII, so the medics give you a shot of morphine. When your pain returns, they give you another shot. Morphine erases pain, so as long as the medics don't run out of morphine, that's the end of your problem, right?

Not quite. You're still wounded, remember? The morphine is merely masking your symptoms. What you really need is life-saving surgery and a time of rehabilitation.

So what do you want me to pull out of my bag right now, Mr. Wounded-Soldier-in-Pain? Surgical tools, the solution to your problem? Or morphine, that tasty little drug that takes away the pain while you continue to bleed and die? Oh? You say that what you really want is to swallow a pill that will make the pain go away and heal the wound so that it's like you were never wounded at all? Sorry, that pill doesn't exist.

So what do you want to see me pull out of the bag?

Pain is your body's warning that is has a problem that requires your immediate attention. Consequently, every businessperson in financial pain needs to understand the following:

1. Your business is telling you that it has a problem that requires your immediate attention.

2. Slow sales or poor retention is not the problem, but merely a symptom of it.

3. At best, every fast-acting ad gimmick is a painkiller exactly like morphine.

4. Morphine very quickly becomes addictive, and if used for too long, it will kill you.

5. No one looks forward to the surgeon's knife, even when it's what he or she desperately needs.

6. Because of their woefully incomplete training, most small business owners are not equipped to perform life-saving surgery. Itís okay to ask for help.

7. Recovery from life-saving surgery is painful, slow, and not the least bit fun.

8. Playing with morphine, cocaine, heroin and other painkillers is gigantic fun!

Are you beginning to understand why small business owners are drawn to fast-acting ad gimmicks whenever they're in financial pain?

Making morphine is easy, but using it is dangerous and often deadly. Now is not the time for gimmicky advertising and hard core sales efforts. Concentrate on infrastructure first."

This is the best advice I ever got.

You don't have to be a wounded soldier. Be sure and book your seat for this year'­s NADL University (go to www.nadl.org for more information). Learn from the mistakes and triumphs of your peers. It'­s one of the best investments you can make in your business, and may become an important part of your survival if things go as some experts are predicting.

Until next time...