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The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are
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solely those of the hosts and their guests and not
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those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We
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make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,
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or products mentioned on air or on our web. No
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liability explicitor implies shall be extended to W FOURCY Radio
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or its employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments should
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be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing
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W FOURCY Radio.
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Welcome to Powerful Business Strategies, where you will find out
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that everything you have ever learned about growing your business
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is wrong. Finally, a show where you'll learn the right
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way to grow your business by learning business and financial
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strategies that your competition isn't doing. And now here is
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your host, President of NeXTSTEP CFO, Michael Barbarita, and joining
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Michael for today's show as an executive moderator is Chooky Obia.
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Welcome to Powerful Business Strategies. And by the way, today
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is Saint Patrick's day. I am wearing green, so I've
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got that COVID. But the reason why you don't hear
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the more invigorating voice of Chucky Obio. Welcoming you to
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the show is because Chukey and his wife recently had
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their first baby. It was the daughter and they welcomed
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Chelsea to the world. So congratulations to Chukey and his wife.
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He will be on leave for a little while, so
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in the meantime, my name is Michael Baberta. I'm president
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of Next Step CFO, and next Step CFO is a
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fractional CFO and strategic implementation firm. Business owners hire us
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to double and triple their profit using business and financial
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strategies that their competition isn't doing. Our vision is to
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ensure overwhelmed business owners achieve the time, freedom, and consistent
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profits to build a legacy and the life that they desire.
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Our mission is dedicated to guiding small business owners to
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leveraging their time, floating their profits, and building a meaningful legacy.
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The show Powerful Business Strategies in our book of the
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same name, is a step toward accomplishing that vision and mission,
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and Chuky and I are both affiliated with a number
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of different organizations. Chocky currently serves as a managing director
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of business development for Better Price, which they global business
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focused law firm, and in addition to that, Chucky and
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I collaborate to moderate business roundtables around the country and
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around the world and document those insights as part of
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our book, Powerful Business Strategies. But please don't that the
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views expressed on this show are personal views based on
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our own successful experiences, and this is something that i'd
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like to share that I've announced the last few weeks.
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If you have a business problem that you'd like us
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to answer, or a business question or a strategy that
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you'd like to ask us about, please email us at
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ask at NEXTSTEPCFO dot net. That's ask at NeXTSTEP CFO.
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Doesn't matter what the business problem is or what the
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question is, and we'll just answer it for you. But
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there are a couple of things that we do ask
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Number one, please state whether it's something we can answer
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on the ear or if it's confidential, let us know,
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and of course if it's confidential, we won't put it
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on the air. And number two, please provide your phone
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number because business problems can be complex and we might
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need more context or clarity. That email address, again is
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ask at NeXTSTEP CFO dot net. And they also want
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to point out that we've had we've had questions, but
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they have requested confidentiality, which, of course we will always
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always honor. You know, throughout history, the most extraordinary success
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stories weren't written during times of ease and abundance. They
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were forged in the crucible of challenge and uncertainty when
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the wins of economic change blow fiercely. Remember this truth.
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Diamonds are created under pressure, steel is strengthened by fire,
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And the most resilient innovative businesses are often those that
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navigated through economic storms, not those that sailed only in
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fair weather. Right now, somewhere in your market, a business
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owner is looking at the same economic landscape you are.
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But while others see only threat, the exceptional few recognize
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disguised opportunity. They understand that economic contractions don't just test businesses,
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they reveal which ones are built on solid foundations. You know,
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during the Great Depression, IBM expanded. During the two thousand
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and eight recession, Netflix grew its subscriber based by twenty percent.
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These weren't accidents. They were the result of leaders who
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refused to retreat what others did. Today, a challengeuld be
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that exceptional busines, this owner, the one who sees possibility
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where others see problems. Because when this economic cycle inevitably turns,
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as all cycles do, it won't be the business that
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simply survived that thrives. It'll be the one that use
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this moment to innovate, that use this moment to strengthen foundations,
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and that use this moment to capture market share while
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all others pull back. Remember that tough times don't last.
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Tough business owners do. There's what I'm having this show
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today is because some of my clients are telling me
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that their customers are pulling back, that they're postponing large projects,
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they're ordering less, they're more price conscious, or downsizing what
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they used to do at the moment. It's not all clients,
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and it's not all industries, but it is fascinating to
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note that the ones who are not feeling the effects,
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I'm doing some of the things that I will talk
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about today. You know, when storm clouds gather on the horizon,
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most captains head for the harbor. They seek safety, battening
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down the hatches, hoping merely to survive the coming tempest.
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But throughout history, the successful navigators have done something different.
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They prepared their vessels to sail boldly, into the storm.
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The same is true in business. Economic downturns don't create
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or destroy opportunity, They merely transfer it from the unprepared
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to the prepared. Although there's retreat, the visionary business owner
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understands that the greatest opportunities often emerge during the most
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challenging times. And remember, more millionaires and billionaires have been
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created during economic contractions than any other time period in history.
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Why is that Well, because downturns separate those who build
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businesses on solid foundations from those who have separate those
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who prepared from who are prepared, from those who simply
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hope for the best. Today, I want to challenge you
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to be among the prepared, to be the business owner
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who not only weathers the storm, but harnesses its power
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to propel your business forward. Because the question isn't whether
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you can afford to prepare for an economic downturn, it's
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whether you can afford not to. So today we're diving
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deeper into a topic that's on many business owners' minds
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these days, how to prepare for and thrive during an
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economic downturn. You know, business is terrifying, and it's terrifying
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because we're responsible for so many other people's lives. And
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the scariest thing about business is that when you wake
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up in the morning, we really never know what to expect.
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And this uncertainty is amplified during economic downturns. What traditional
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wisdom says to cut back, preserve cash, and essentially go
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into survival mode. But today our objective is to give
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you something different financial and business strategies that your competition
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isn't doing that will help you thrive during economic downturns,
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reducing the terror and uncertainty of business. So let me
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be clear from the outset, you can never really be
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ready for an economic downturn, but you can be prepared,
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and our job as business owners is to be prepared
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to adapt. This means to be flexible to change. You know,
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what I find is is that many are resistant to
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change and therefore don't adapt. And that's why. So if
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you thrive during economic downturns, and as we all know,
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business is always changing. And this is June now more
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than ever. Just a short time ago, interest rates were
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low and many industries were having record years. But with
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interest rates, you know, staying relatively high, higher than we're
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accustomed to, credit card delinquencies rising personal savings and decline,
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and now tariff's being introduced, many industries are now facing
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some significant uncertainty. And as a fractional CFO and profit
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growth strategist, I see this uncertainty every day, and so
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business owners ask me three critical questions. Number one, why
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are some companies winning while others are struggling? Secondly, what
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are the winning companies doing differently? And third how can
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I win during an economic downturn? So today we're going
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to answer these questions comprehensively and we'll explore proven strategies
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that have helped businesses not just survive, but thrive during
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previous recessions and economic contractions. So in our first segment
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will this the foundational mindset and preparation needed to prosper
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during downturns, starting with laser focused on your personal goals
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and a leveraging and leveraging a visionary mindset rather than
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falling into survible thinking. And our second segment will dive
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deep into financial clarity, understanding your numbers and using tools
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like the Business Account Flow Forecast to make data driven
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decisions when others are guessing. Finally, in our third segment
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will explore specific business strategies that successful company companies implement
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during downturns, from strategic pricing approaches to smart cost management
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that actually fuels growth. And what's particularly exciting about today's
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show is that most of your competitors will be doing
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exactly the wrong things during an economic downturn. While they're
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cutting in discriminately and retreating on the market, You'll be
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strategically positioned to capture market share, attract top talent, and
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build a foundation for exponential growth when the economy recovers.
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So grab that pen and paper because you're about to
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discover how economic downturns can become your greatest business opportunity.
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And remember, if you're driving, don't grab that pen and
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paper and listen to the replay at Powerful Business Strategies
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dot com up. So let's dive into that first critical
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component of thriving during an economic downturn, having the right
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foundation and mindset to make strategic decisions while others panic.
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So winning business owners during economic downturns have a laser
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focus on their number one goal. But here is the
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key distinction. I'm not talking about their number one business goal.
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I'm talking about their number one personal goal for themselves.
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And their families, because this is the not only the why,
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but this would be their greatest motivation to adapt and
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to be flexible to change. You know, great CEOs always
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stopped by understanding their personal goals and motivations and understanding
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what's really important to you and your family. I don't
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know about you, but it's important to me that my
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business serves me, not the other way around. And that's
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really the basis of this show. You know, I don't
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want you to feel like a slave to your business,
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especially during these challenging economic times that may becoming because
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the pressure increases exponentially, as you all know. Now, before
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you can start to do tactical things, you must strategically
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understand why am I doing this, where am I headed,
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and what does success look like for me? And by
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the way, this is not in your business, this is
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in your life because I've seen this stake happened over
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and over again, and a lot of you are in
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the position right now where you get so excited to
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make your impact in the world that you jump out
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there and your creative business and now all of a sudden,
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you're fitting your life around this business thing that you creative.
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So the way it should work is that you create
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the life you want and let the asset, which is
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the business, serve you allow you to get to that life.
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I hope that makes sense because that's a critical start
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to any handling of an economic downturn. So we must
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start by setting our personal goals first, then moving to
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our business goals. And with respect to our business goals,
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it's net profit goals first, then revenue goals. Revenue goals
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without net profit goals are useless during a downturn. Want
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more take on pay you need more profit. You want
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to pay down debt. What do you need? You need
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more profit? Want to hire somebody like a manager or
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an administrative person, You certainly need more profit. This focus
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on profitability rather than just top line revenue, becomes even
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more critical during economic trans contractions. I got a question
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from a listener. Many business owners get caught up in
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survival mode during downturns. I agree, How can they maintain
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this focus on personal goals when everything seems to be
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just keeping the business afloat? Well, that's a great question.
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So the key is to create what I call prior
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priorities pyramid. At the top of your pyramid is personal.
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The why the specific lifestyle, the freedom, the time, freedom
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or impact that your business that you want to create
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for your business that you want your business to create,
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I should say, and during turbulent times, start each week
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by reviewing this personal vision. Then work backward identifying the
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specific business actions that's supporting. This keeps you from getting
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lost in reactive mode. For example, if family time is
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a core personal goal, you might prioritize business strategies that
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increase profitability through systems rather than through your personal time investment.
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This approach ensures that you'll even are that even your
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survival strategies aligned with your deeper personal objectives. Next, winning
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business owners and economic times have a visionary mindset. I'm sorry.
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In economic downturns, they have a visionary mindset. It's easy
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to get sucked into the doom and gloom of a downturn.
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It's easy to go into scarcity mode. Don't do that. Yes,
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the economy is changing, but the world isn't ending. We
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need to adapt, not shut down. Avoid scarcity based decisions
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and make visionary decisions. Think about the impact of your
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decisions next quarter, next year, five years from now. Make
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decisions that will serve you well in the long run.
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Don't just think about those short term implications with the
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economic downturn, Because when we think about the vision of
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our companies that inspires us. This inspiration is crucial fuel
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during challenging times. Remember, your mindset isn't just about positive positivity.
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It directly impacts the strategic choices that you make. Let
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me give you a concrete example of how this works.
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So during the nine recession, I worked with two similar
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companies in the same industry. Company A went into defense mode,
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cutting marketing, laying off talent, doing terrible margin business just