PAUL AND SARAH EDWARDS:
LIFESTYLES FOR THE MILLENNIUM
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Paul and Sarah Edwards
MARY ANN HALPIN PHOTOGRAPH Y
(www.elmstreeteconomy.
com) are co-authors of
17 books, including
Working from Home:
Fail flexibly
“FAIL FAST AND BE FLEXIBLE” was the topic of a
keynote address at this year’s Association of Small
Business Development Centers annual conference.
Few messages are more pertinent to many
companies in today’s business climate. We need to
find out as quickly as possible what won’t work.
Leading experts are encouraging entrepreneurs to develop low-cost versions of a product,
show them to potential customers, get their
feedback, improve the product and test it again
and then again, until they determine a product
is ready to market. This is before developing a
business plan, in the case of a new business. The
key to this process is adaptability and flexibility.
That’s also true with an existing business
when the owner finds it struggling after calamitous
difficulties. The goal is to recognize problems
quickly, and no quality is more important than
resilience. Resilience amounts to having the
flexibility to come up from the mat by adapting
to changed business conditions despite enormous
stress, pressures, threats and the urge to
feel despondent.
Duffy Electric Boat Company in Adelanto,
California, provides an example for changing
one’s business model. After its sales of new boats
plunged to almost half their pre-recession level,
Duffy quickly turned instead to renting and
refurbishing older boats for resale.
More in archives
On Costco.com, enter
“connection.”At Online Edition,
search “Paul and Sarah Edwards.”
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THE SMALL Business Administration (SBA) has loosened
rules allowing small firms that
own commercial real estate to
refinance their mortgages
through the SBA’s 504 loan program. For the first time ever,
small businesses can use 504
refinancing proceeds to turn
their real estate equity into
working capital. As of February,
the 20-year effective interest
rates for the SBA 504 loan program were 4. 69 percent.
Costco member Chris Hurn
of Mercantile Capital Corpora-
tion, an SBA lender based in
Hurn says that enabling
owners to include business ex-
penses in a refinancing project is
an opportunity small business
can’t afford not to capitalize on.
For more information,
go to www.sba.gov and search
“504.” C
Navigating work’s little speed bumps
RESOLVING ISSUES at work
quickly and satisfactorily is ideal
but not always possible. Costco
member Vivian Scott, author of
Conflict Resolution at Work for
Dummies, has these tips to help
you focus on what you can control if conflict persists.
Your perspective. Dealing
with a persistent difficulty can
become the routine. Stop and
reassess your point of view. See
if you can find a learning opportunity in the situation.
Your responses. Look
for ways to respond that don’t
escalate your anxiety. Consider
how you want to be seen by
others and choose responses
accordingly.
Your role in the conflict. Ask
yourself, “What have I said or done,
or not said or done, that has kept
this going?” Be honest with your
answers and change your approach.
Your expectations. Your frustrations will decrease when you
stop holding others to standards
they don’t know they’re being measured against.
Your own story. Give an account
without elevating or victimizing anyone. Consider neutral responses that
refrain from portraying yourself as
a victim.
Your method for processing
emotions. Talking it out, keeping a
journal, writing letters you’ll never
send (my personal favorite) or having
a vigorous workout are productive
ways to process emotions and
your perspective.
