How To Recession-Proof Your Small Business

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Economic recessions are an inevitable reality of business, and destroy those who are unprepared.

This is especially true for small businesses, and even more so for first-time entrepreneurs who have never witnessed an economic recession from the perspective of a business owner.

See, as entrepreneurs, we tend to be risk-takers. We make decisions that lead to quick growth of our companies, and sometimes go a bit too far. We bank on the good times continuing, our carefully thought-out plans succeeding, and a bright and prosperous future.

Unfortunately, we may not factor in the hiccups we’re bound to face along the way.

In this article, I want to lay out some steps you can take right now to reduce your risk of collapse during even a very tough economic recession, and ensure that your company can continue thriving even during the worst of economies.

This isn’t to say that I believe a recession is about to strike, but this topic is too important to ignore.

Let’s get into it!

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When To Work Hard, And When To Work Smart – Concrete Examples

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Have you ever heard the phrase, ‘work smart, not hard’?

Wonder what genius came up with that one?

The idea that there is some ‘secret strategy’ guaranteed to make you riches without any real effort is ridiculous. Just as ridiculous as the idea that if you just work hard enough (even if you’re doing the wrong thing) you’ll inevitably find success as well.

Therefore, ask yourself – should you work smart or hard?

The answer, put simply, is both. Not only do you need to have the right strategy in place, but you have to back it up with enough effort and hours to execute that strategy to its full potential.

However, there’s different times to focus on working smart vs. working hard. In this article, I intend to highlight some of these examples. This way, you can structure your work days in a way that truly maximizes your results.

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5 Ways To Simplify Your Business Strategy, To Focus On Execution

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Business is often made out to seem over complicated.

We are constantly being bombarded with new strategies to try out, new social networks to focus on, and new trends that we just ‘have to’ jump on quickly.

We’re made to believe that if we don’t move quickly, then we’ll miss out. That if we just try out this one new thing, or find that one special secret, we’ll instantly become successful in our entrepreneurial endeavors.

We develop complex plans in our minds with a lot of moving pieces, and expect everything to go perfectly.

Of course, it rarely does.

The fact of the matter is, you likely already know nearly everything you need to grow your business to massive levels – it’s just a matter of executing on that information.

Let this article serve as a guide to help you filter out the noise – to analyze what’s actually important for you to focus on, and develop a simple strategy that you can actually work with – guaranteed to bring you consistent results over time.

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Multiple Failed Businesses? Here’s What To Do Differently Next Time

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There is only one thing more frustrating than pouring your heart and soul into a business, only to see it fail.

Doing it several times.

Launching one venture after another, truly giving it your all, only to ultimately realize that its going nowhere.

Each time this happens, you begin to feel worse and worse about this whole entrepreneurship thing. It seems so far out of reach, and you have no idea what could possibly be going wrong so many times. Why it appears so easy to everyone else, but regardless of how hard you work, you just can’t seem to pull it off.

Maybe, you even start believing that you’ve been lied to, and this is all a huge scam.

Don’t worry.

I know how this feels, because it’s something I went through myself. It took me years before I began attaining any success at all, and I have had a large number of failures between them.

The fact of the matter is, even if you do everything right, and you have a solid strategy in place, things still may not work out.

Other times, the shortcomings may be caused by your mindset – a lack of motivation, poor time management skills, or unconsciously setting mental hurdles that make your entrepreneurial journey more difficult.

If any of this sounds like it applies to you, read on – this may be one of the most important articles you’ve come across. We’re going to analyze the root causes of business failures in more detail, and develop a plan that will ensure with absolute certainty that you will achieve success with future ventures.

Let’s begin, with the first step.

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Branding Isn’t Everything – Balancing Branding Vs. Direct Response Advertising

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We’re at an interesting time in entrepreneurship, particularly for small businesses.

Things aren’t the same that they used to be. As a society, our lives are radically different than they were 10 years ago, and marketing has changed as well.

So has the way we learn.

New entrepreneurs aren’t getting their business advice from textbooks or college courses. They’re getting it from online gurus or major online personal brands, who may have an agenda of their own that they’re pushing on you.

One piece of advice in particular that I’ve seen consume entrepreneurs is this:

“Hard-selling is bad, just focus on branding!”

I’m here to tell you why this often isn’t true, and help you find the balance between direct response marketing, and branding in your small business.

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These Are The 10 Skills All Solopreneurs Need To Master

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Running a business is hard. Running a business by yourself is even harder.

When you’re doing things on your own, you’re responsible for everything. Every little aspect that goes into running a business is put on your shoulders.

This balancing act is tough, and it’s no wonder why so many new entrepreneurs don’t make it.

In this article, let’s look over some of the most important skills for solopreneurs to develop, if their goal is to eventually grow to massive levels.

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