I’m of the opinion there’s always a silver lining in any situation you find yourself in with your business. No matter how dire things get or badly you may have messed things up, there’s always a way to make things work out the way you need them to. Notice I say “need” and not “want,” as those are two entirely different things.
When a situation comes up that threatens the “happiness” of your business, you always have something in mind as to how you can get back to a point where everything’s ok. Usually, though, your vision and the reality are two different things, and the end result is a total 180 from what you had in mind. But often this unintended consequence can be – like the medicine you didn’t want to swallow – good news for your business.
The important thing to remember during a calamity is to look for the good news – what can you pull out of this situation that makes light of a raw deal? Once you start to look on the bright side, every disaster just becomes an opportunity to learn.
On Your Feet
Sometimes finding the silver lining in a situation just depends on how quick on your feet you are. An opportunity can present itself but you may just have a small window to take advantage of it. This is why it’s best to prepare ahead of time.
Let’s say your particular situation is a certain item in your store has proven to be unreliable and customers are mad. If you handle it poorly, you may lose a ton of business over an item that’s not really a focus of your business anymore.
Realizing the opportunity ahead of you, though, you quickly assure all those customers you’re working on the issue. Since that item isn’t exactly a hot seller right now, you let everyone know they’ll get free versions of the new, upgraded product you’re about to fix. When you do, it creates a brand new buzz about an item you probably weren’t able to sell just a few days or weeks prior.
The Tide
Just because you’re able to think quickly doesn’t mean you have to ACT quickly. Sometimes you should just sit back and watch how the tide rolls in. Sure, a lot of the time the ocean will splash up and ruin your shoes…but once in a while it’s nowhere near as bad as you think.
The issue here: if you react too quickly when you should have relaxed it could completely backfire. Your customers could think you’re horribly overreacting and may wonder what’s really going on with the business. Instead of pulling the good news out of a bad situation, you’re showing everyone how much worse you can make things!
Part of thinking on your toes is knowing when to step back and say, “Hey, this may not be as bad as I think.” The typical reaction to a disaster is to freak and run in circles and scream that you’re doomed. But once you see not everything will fall down like a house of cards it’s easier to gain perspective and know what to do.
This is yet another reason to have a plan for any emergency – you’re less likely to lose your mind and more likely to be able to make the best out of a bad situation.
What’s a bad situation you were able to flip around in order to improve your business?
This article is written by Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases (https://www.ereleases.com), the online leader in affordable press release distribution. Download your free copy of 7 Cheap PR Tactics for Success in Any Economy here: https://www.ereleases.com/free-offer/cheap-pr-tactics/