four suggestions for beginning or reinventing a enterprise in robust occasions | Nationwide Information

Every two weeks he had to come back to her to cover the payroll; There were “10 excruciating phone calls,” he says, and he ended up borrowing $ 250,000 in total. Finally he was able to repay it.

As a corporate consultant in Ohio, Slain co-wrote the book, Rock the Recession: How Successful Leaders Prepare for Downturns, Thrive, and Create Wealth. He says the lessons he has learned from failure, along with the insights of his friend and co-author Paul Belair, will guide a profitable recession strategy.

As he says in the book, “Learn from my mistakes. Don’t be like me Be like Paul. “

Belair owned a heating and air conditioning company during the same recession.

Knowing that customers would buy fewer new units but would choose service instead, Belair and its management team focused the company’s focus from 80% sales to 80% service.

The nimble fulcrum enabled Belair and its investors to sell the business about five years later for more than 80 times their original investment, Slain says.

The lesson: adapt quickly to a changing market rather than relying on a relative.

2. TRY TO FIX SOMETHING YOU BOTH

Whether the result of inspiration or despair, many successful businesses are started by someone trying to fix something that is bothering them, says serial entrepreneur Trevor Blake.