Difficult times are great opportunities for vigilant entrepreneurs to cease their chance and transform to meet new challenges.
Key Details
- In a recent op-ed, HotelPlanner.com founder Tim Hentschel offered his advice on why economic downturns are excellent times for risk-taking and transformation.
- As he suggests, identify trends during hard economic times and take a risk while the market is down to avoid getting caught in market bubbles.
- A Stoic entrepreneur should have the ability to accept the “inevitability of adverse circumstances” while practicing discernment, fixing problems, and finding positivity amid the challenges.
- “The key is knowing when to duck a wave and when to ride one.” Entrepreneurs must be able to discern when a challenge is an opportunity or a destructive force that must be survived.
Why It’s Important
The economy currently faces many severe issues, including recession fears, high-interest rates, high inflation, a tightening labor market, and a tight real estate market. These factors together make it difficult for any business to operate, but a good entrepreneur needs the discernment to read the tea leaves and decide which of these challenges must be endured and which can be profited upon.
“As every entrepreneur knows, there’s no way to escape complications and setbacks when running a business. But business is not just about taking the good with the bad. To be successful, you’ll have to embrace challenges for what they are—opportunities in disguise,” writes Hentschel.
He uses the example of COVID-19 and how businesses transformed the meet the demands of a locked-down global economy. Travel businesses were not well suited to the changes. However, Hentschel was able to navigate the issues with his HotelPlanner business and help end users navigate local rules, state laws, and available options for travelers who needed to travel amidst heavy restrictions.
“In order for any of this advice to be useful, you’ve got to keep your purpose in mind. Who are you serving? Think fundamentals, focus on your purpose, and don’t force anything. Success will come if you focus on solving the problem you’ve set out to solve,” he says.
