Investing in Tough Times

Added March 18th, 2009

Whether it’s an old song by the Birds or an Old Testament passage in Ecclesiastes, there is a season for everything – a time to laugh, a time to weep. There is a time to save and a time to invest. Today, many people have gone beyond saving. The economy has frightened them into hoarding. They are afraid to part with their money, as if they will never earn more in the future. This is fear on overload.

Those who are particularly attuned to the seasons understand timing. They know when to plant and when to harvest. They know winter months are the time to purchase and work on equipment to prepare for spring. Farmers understand the cycle of business better than most business people. They prepare themselves for winter and view it as a gift of time–a time to rest, a time to play and a time to get strong.

This economic winter is an opportunity for you. Are you working on your “equipment?” Are you studying, training and preparing yourself for spring? If not, what are you waiting for? Use the time you have available to ready yourself for the recovery. It will happen. When it does, you will claim you’re too busy to work on that stuff. Those who anticipate the recovery and prepare for it will take full advantage of the opportunities ahead. Those who fail to prepare will find themselves disappointingly behind.

You have resources available to you–time and money. Are you investing them, looking for a return? Or, are you hoarding them, trying not to fail? Success in business is more than not failing. Peter Drucker wrote: “In turbulent times, an enterprise has to be managed both to withstand sudden blows and to avail itself of sudden unexpected opportunities.”