Waste not a moment
So, I know it's been more than a minute since my last entry. I got called out on it by a couple people over the last couple weeks. The fact of the matter is, this failing economy is teaching more lessons about being an entrepreneur than I would like to be learning. Once I work through these economic challenges, I will have a limitless number of blog entries to write about...assuming I don't throw myself into the Schuylkill River first (that's a joke).
Everywhere I turn, I'm encountering shrinking budgets - even within the health care industry, one that has historically been considered "recession-proof". I guess we will have to create a new term - "depression-proof". And I don't know if there's really an industry that I can think of that falls into that category.
The only thing you can really is look for ways to make your company more competitive and eliminate as many weaknesses as possible. For me, I've always known that sales is probably one of the weaker skills that I have. I think I have a fair grasp of marketing and management. Accounting and finance I've taught myself what I've needed to over the years. However, I've never had the sales experience that I wish, in retrospect, that I had gotten in previous jobs.
So what can I do about it? Teach myself as much as I can about the subject. For those that don't know, I've recently moved from Philadelphia to Delaware. My commute went from what was a 25 minute walk to a 10 minute drive (I moved my offices about a year ago) to now what is hour to an hour and a half. That now means I'm sitting in my car for a total of at least two to three hours a day...BRUTAL.
Luckily, a contact of mine asked me to speak to one of his classes that he teaches about entrepreneurship which I was happy to do. As a thank you, he gave me a gift certificate to Audible.com, the iTunes of audio books. I decided to use the gift to purchase an audio book on sales - "Little Red Book of Selling: 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness". I burned it onto a CD and listened to it on my drives into work. Not only did I enjoy it thoroughly, I turned a couple hours of wasted time (yes, it was for the most part wasted) into time that was extremely productive. How can you make dead time more productive? Carry books with you wherever you go. Read self help books while you wait for the flight, at the doctor's office, for your car to be serviced. People hate waiting for things - I know I do. But turn those times into opportunities to improve on a weakness. In this economic downturn, it is vital to "waste not a moment".
I'll try to do a better job on these entries, I promise!
Xan!!! Your back!!! lol hang in there man. times are tough and they're most likely going to be for a while. Imgaine paying $50K to learn about a declining industry!!! But this is def the time to learn and improve! Be ready for the upswing! Stay strong and I will be purchasing said audio book. Selling is my weakpoint too. TTYL peaces.
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