There’s No Business Problem That Can’t Be Solved
March 12, 2008
I’ve lost count of the number of stressful situations I’ve faced in business. And I’ve come to learn that there’s isn’t a business problem that can’t be solved, one way or another.
Knowing how stress can actually be beneficial in business is important though, as is your attitude to money and loss. In this series of posts, I’m going to explain how you can use stress to benefit your business and how to develop an attitude to financial risk and loss that will get you through any situation.
I’ll also share some real life problems I’ve encountered in business, how I dealt with them and what I would have done with hindsight and a bit of experience. But, first, I’ll give you an overview of some random problems I’ve had. They’re all experiences I’ve learned from and the good news is, you can overcome every single one:
Potential Bankruptcy: I’ve had winding up orders put on my business because I was unable to collect debts in fast enough to pay others. These were for reasonably small amounts, but some large plc’s in the UK won’t negotiate and give you longer to pay, because they are able to claim on their insurance for the amount you owe. If you’re faced with potential bankruptcy, don’t wait for my post in the series – check out Phoenix From The Ashes now – it’s an excellent resource.
Cashflow Problems: Cashflow problems are caused when you don’t have enough money coming in to cover expenses going out. Causes of lack of cashflow can vary. You may simply not have enough work coming in to cover expenses. Or you may not be getting paid in time for the work you are carrying out. I’ll discuss more specific cashflow problems in this series and show you how to deal with them and even prevent them to begin with.
Trust and the Problems With Business Partnerships: There are many potential pitfalls with business partnerships. For example, your business partner could empty the bank account at any time, leaving you with massive problems and there’s not a lot you can do about it. I’ll outline how to prevent this happening and what to do if it does.
Bank Incompetence – Knowing Your Rights: I don’t like banks in general and in the past I’ve let them get away with far too much, because I didn’t know my rights. I’ll be sharing some of my worst experiences with business banks and situations you should avoid. You’ll probably be surprised to learn that the best advice doesn’t always come from solicitors and accountants.
Is there another business problem that you’d like to see featured in the series? Have you suffered business problems yourself? Would you like to contribute your knowledge in an interview or a guest post?
If you’re a business owner, or you’re thinking of starting a business, this is a series you can’t afford to miss, so click here to subscribe in a feedreader.
A feedreader is a useful tool which will enable you to keep track of posts on hundreds of blogs. You can get one by clicking here: Google Reader.
Related Posts
Part 2: Risk and Money In Business
Comments
16 Responses to “There’s No Business Problem That Can’t Be Solved”
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Successful And Outstanding Blogger
Hi Catherine,
This looks like it will be a great series. When will it start?
Learning from the mistakes of others is often the best advice one can receive.
Barbara’s last blog post..Go Home and Cover Your Crack
Hi Barbara – Thank you. You know when you begin writing, then something else pops into mind, so you start outlining that etc? That’s when I realised I needed to write a series. It’s weird how everything sort of ties together.
I was hoping you would be able to do an interview or a guest post. And if you choose the latter, I will also do a guest post for you.
Way to build anticipation, Catherine! I’m sure the series will have lots of good tips.
I’m wondering about your definition of feedreader though:
“A feedreader is a useful tool which will enable you to keep track of posts on hundreds of blogs.”
Hundreds seems like a lot to me! Do you really keep up with that many? Even if you’re just skimming through most of them, I think I’d like to hear some time management tips from you!
Hunter Nuttall’s last blog post..Learn More, Study Less: Expand Your Mind With Holistic Learning
Hi Hunter – thanks. Maybe hundreds was a bit of an exaggeration. I don’t read it every day. And when I do, I never get through all the blogs I want to.
So, to make it easier, a couple of days ago, I bundled quite a few blogs into a file called networking. That contains my favourite blogs, including yours. That way, I can read those first, then just skim through the titles of the others to see if I want to read any. Otherwise, it just becomes impossible.
I used to read each blog each day, but now I don’t. And sometimes even on your blog, I visit it one day then come back and comment the next. Usually, it’s because I was supposed to be doing something else when I read, but the headline was too appealing.
But, I rarely comment on blogs out of the networking group as it often takes too much time to click through the reader.
Apparently, Darren Rowse has 666 blogs in his reader. I don’t know how he manages to keep up. Until December, I didn’t have a reader – I just memorised the url’s of all the blogs I liked visiting.
Hi Catherine,
I look forward to the series.
As for the “RSS reader” — that’s what I call them — but feedreader is great, like feedburner, which brings to mind: if you don’t read them, they go on the feedbackburner…okay, bad joke.
But yes, I skim through all the post titles and only click on the ones that sound interesting.
I have about 60 feeds, but will probably do a bit of trimming in the days to come.
Nez’s last blog post..The ABC’s of Blogging
Hi Nez – i keep forgetting what the damn things are called. Feedbackburner would probably be more accurate. 60 feeds does sound a heap more realistic. Mind you, I suppose RSS readers play on the fact that most of us are worried we miss anything important.
Cath,
Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll follow this series closely and if you don’t mind review your articles and directly recommend people read them.
I know they’ll be excellent.
The cashflow one in particular!
As for other topics, being organised and not being organised causes stress.
Hunter’s touched on this – how you manage your blogging activities. I strongly suspect you take the same approach in business and I think people would love to know how you organise the business.
Being disorganised causes stress, and when stressful times hit, it’s far harder to cope with. Prioritising things is extremely important to be able to cope with the situation.
One problem people have when they hit a problem is they deal directly with the issue attacking them.
Cashflow for example. People think “got no money, must go and collect outstanding invoices”.
The root cause may be something completely different. So it’s always worth approaching problems by looking at the cause rather than the symptoms.
It could be that sales levels are insufficient for the cash needs of the business. So while you will still need to collect in those debts, it may be wise to start ramping up your sales or considering lowering your cost base so the problem does not recur.
In my usual long-winded way, I’m therefore suggesting “Organising Yourself And Your Business” as a topic I think you’d be very strong on.
Ian Denny’s last blog post..Blog Authors – How To Get More Comments Per Visitor
I’m with you on banks, they’re absolutely terrible in the UK and their idea of customer service is shocking.
It still suprised me last year when Barclays sent us some details of their “advice” for small businesses that included the suggestion to market a website with a “good scam”!
John’s last blog post..Selling Books
Hi Ian – thanks. But I have to admit that I only learned about being organised through being disorganised to begin with. I didn’t call you yet but I will try today if that’s ok. To be honest – I didn’t want to make you feel miserable! It’s been one of those bad weeks.
Hi John – that is absolutely appalling. It makes you wonder how many scams they pull on us. I bank with them now aswell!
Mind you – they’re all bad. I’ve just had a real polava with Alliance and Leicester and when I Googled their customer complaints department it was nowhere to be found – just heaps of different sites with hundreds of complaints against Alliance and Leicester. It’ appalling.
cathlawson’s last blog post..There’s No Business Problem That Can’t Be Solved
I’m always reminded of Richard Bach’s statement – “there’s no problem you encounter that doesn’t come bearing a gift in its hands.”
Or something like that.
Being able to turn on a dime and rebound in one’s business is a life skill that is constantly developed.
Speaking about RSS readers, I use http://www.feedreader.com and monitor about 200 blogs. Perusing them first thing in the morning gives me great ideas on what to write about later in the day.
Data points,
Barbara
Barbara Ling (aka Owlbert)’s last blog post..Getting slapped upside the headed courtesy of your pitifully dull blog writing voice
that’s true as long as you stay humble and are a good person (not stealing from your customers) you will do good
thegeekboys’s last blog post..Feel good music
Hi Barbara – that is a great quote. And using your feedreader first thing in the morning is a wonderful way to find inspiring things to write about.
Hi Geekboys – Stealing from your customers would be a huge mistake and it’s one that banks often make. I think the traditional banks will suffer over the coming decade – especially in the UK. Hopefully our incompetent government won’t continue to bail them out at the taxpayers expense.
I work Best under stress.
But not too much of it
Business partner,…., I don’t think that I will ever go down that road.
And bank? I totally dislike them
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