While having lunch with a small businessman recently, I asked him how things were going. What’s the economic outlook?
He told me his costs of doing business have risen, his costs of good sold are up, orders have slowed, and profits are down. In short, it looks like a recession could be coming.
I asked how worried he was. Would he have to lay people off? Change suppliers? Could he go out of business?
He smiled and told me how he quietly cut his own salary a bit and implemented small steps to preserve cash flow. “We’ll be all right,” he said. “We’ve been through times like this before.” I was shocked he had cut his own salary. He then clarified—He had eliminated his own bonus and spread the money to his employees.
He then offered me some words to pass along to job seekers: Stop listening to the pundits and politicians who keep warning about a recession. Stay focused. Do your job—which is to find a job. Stop worrying about things that are out of your control.
I mentioned how I had seen articles saying it would soon be difficult to find a job, as companies were or would be laying off. He laughed, “Even in recessions companies hire. People need to know what’s happening, but they need to prioritize. When you’re unemployed, job one is to get a job. Recession or not, you still need to keep trying.”
After our lunch I pondered his advice. It reminded me how some people say one should not bother looking for work during the winter holidays or the summer. Meanwhile career coaches agree that one should look for work during the summer and the holidays. So, I think it makes sense to look for work when there is merely the fear of a recession. After all, it’s not even a real thing, yet.
Some say that fear has two meanings---Forget everything and run or Face everything and rise.
You get to choose.
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