So is it going to really be a “Happy New Year?”

Now that the New Year’s celebrations are over and the newly promised resolutions are starting to wane, what’s the plan for your business in 2009? Is it business as usual, has panic set in or are you positively dealing with our challenging environment?

We are in the throws of a recession that I have not experienced in my business career. Black Monday in October of 1985 was the economic nosedive prior to what we are experiencing today—but it was not as severe.

I have noticed that many businesses are electing to take the reactive-negative approach to dealing with the times. Dramatic discounts are being taken to stimulate sales and/or excessive cuts are being made in expenses particularly payroll and advertising; these are occurring far too often.

I am working with my clients to take a more positive approach: determining what can be accomplished in 2009 to minimize overhead, increase market share and prepare for the turnaround predicted for early 2010. How to survive in 2009 and be properly positioned for better times in 2010 is the short and long-term strategic plan of today.

I encourage the companies I coach not to take a “knee-jerk” approach but to analyze how to be more productive with less people and not make cuts that in the long term will cost more than the short term gain. 2009 is a year of reckoning. It is a year to force us to answer the hard questions that we so conveniently put off. Questions such as: Can I afford to keep an under producer because he has been with the company so long? Can I continue not to hold people accountable for their actions? Will I continue to allow my employees to delegate upwardly to me? Will I make sales only to swap dollars with no intent to make a profit? These and other pertinent questions must be answered. But it is essential to ask the right questions to achieve the proper solutions.

The competition of any business is going through the same dilemmas. But the smart ones are positioning themselves for the better times that lie ahead. How to capture increased market share in 2009 is at the top of the agenda.

These companies are not being overly aggressive in slashing expenses but are examining where the “fat” is and how to become “lean and mean.” Under producers are being asked to leave and being replaced with energetic, creative and most of all accountable individuals. Attention is being given to competitive weaknesses to gain market penetration and customer service to create “raving fans” is paramount in the thoughts of forward thinking entrepreneurs.

So I leave you with this question. Will you succumb to the “dire straits” of today, put your head in the sand hoping all this will go away, or are you willing to take a stand and strengthen and position your business for your future, your family’s and that of the business?