Stop Crisis Now
WHAT?
This site was originally created to allow you to respond to the continuous negative flow of information from the media about the economic stress or financial crisis. It has lead to so many positive insights that it is now not just a response, but a platform to exchange best practices.
It’s a hard time for us all. Yet there are many opportunities for those who refuse to surrender. Fight! There’s more to publish than negative events and opinions. Don’t let the media get to you. Join “Stop crisis now” by telling your story. We will show the world that there are enough positive minds and great pro-active businesses who are strong and creative enough to handle this crisis and who can come out bigger, better and stronger than before.
Read their stories, comments or opinions below and get inspired. More important: add to the movement!
WHY?
The current recession is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.
After the financial crisis companies are starting to feel the effects and some might even tip over. The more negative stories we hear through media and from friends around us, the more likely people will stop spending, stop investing and stop being creative; the situation will become even worse. Perhaps it’s inevitable, but through “Stop crisis now” we are at least making an effort to fight this trend by providing a collective positive message.
HOW?
On this site you can tell the world about the opportunities you see. You can inspire people!
You can tell the world about your anti cyclical strategies; you can tell the world your good news story and last but not least you can tell the world how you respond to change. Before you know it you might have pumped a friend, colleague or entrepreneur full of energy and ideas.
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AboutFace screams ‘do a 180!’ We are eating up the opportunity to galvanize and re-position. Like Ram says, “Never waste a crisis.”
At the end of this, we’ll be smarter, stronger, leaner and better positioned for a much bigger game.
BTW, great site… Just putting it out there is a great message.
http://www.aq-services.com/FortuneFeb09.pdf
The article above is from Jim Collins the well known author of books as “Built to last” and “Good to great”. Below in short what he says in the article:
Crisis is Normal – Get Used to It!
-the past 50 years was an aberration in economic growth spurred by stability & unprecedented prosperity
-in effect, the normal times, as we know it, are actually abnormal based on historical facts
Values Must Endure Time
-what’s important is not “what” our values are, but that we have values at all
-the more challenging the times, the more we need values; they keep us in check
It’s All About People
-hire the best for each position, train & coach them
-DON’T stop hiring; especially in crises, because during these times, the best people are overlooked
-the best people are responsible; they DO NOT need to be MANAGED.
Look to the Future
-plan for the long-term; what is apparently unnecessary now may be vital for the future
-this is especially applicable to People, Systems, and Processes
-be mindful of trends
Crisis is Our Friend
-crisis brings out the best in us
-when we survive, we are more prepared to take on challenges, for both good times and bad
Don’t Just Stand There… Do Something!
-we cannot afford to be indecisive; we must choose to act on all challenges
-if we choose to become defensive, we live to fight another day
-if we choose to become aggressive, we need to ask: “how can we change the world with our plan of action?”
Balancing Faith and Reality
-we must believe in our capacity to survive and thrive, without becoming oblivious to the brutal facts
-we must use the facts to craft a plan of survival and prosperity
The McDonalds way:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/04/mcdonalds-skinner-empathy-leadership-innovation_0204_patnaik.html
It would seem as if all Dutch entrepreneurs can only talk about disappointing figures and anything related to them. I also have chosen to no longer play that game. Why?
Nothing changes. So what should we do instead? Continue to do business, of course! This means that we should think positively, look ahead and take risks, especially in times of adversity. One question that should be asked instead is how to ensure that all (potential) customers come to me. Irrespective of the question of whether this is feasible, I think that this constitutes the true bottleneck. As a result of the enormous demand, several companies saw their earnings and results grow over the past years. The market had become a real sellers’ market, and themes such as a customer-oriented approach and market-oriented organization garnered proportionally less attention. Now that the market in lots of industries has changed into a buyers’ market in a relatively short time, Dutch managers have no idea how to respond! Many of them now discover that their customers are not as loyal as they thought. Next to cost management, the emphasis should be on making organizations more customer-friendly in order to generate loyalty among customers again.
In times of crisis, everyone, at every level of the organization, should ask himself or herself the following question: what else can I do to ensure that customers are loyal to our company? This elementary question is easily answered. Customers, citizens and patients only want three things: honesty, clarity and attention. And this is not just the case in bad times, but also in good times. Those companies which have been actively working on this in the past three to five years can take a blow. In other words: in spite of the pressure on prices, these companies at present have more loyal customers than their competitors. Long ago, Albert Einstein said that life is just like riding a bicycle: you need to keep moving to maintain your balance. In my experience, this wonderful adage is absolutely applicable to the current zeitgeist. I have taken the liberty of replacing living with running a business.
Think of running a business like riding a bicycle: in order to maintain your balance, you need to keep moving. And that is my motto for 2009: my company and I only stand to benefit!
The crisis is in the mindset of the majority of the people. As an entrepreneur in my company M-Lines, I believe too that creativity and innovation give new chances. I arrange subsidiary and grants for technical innovation projects by Dutch enterprises.
This month I’m founding with 20 other small enterprises a co-organization of small entrepreneurs in the Netherlands. The brand name is Aangenamer Ondernemen. We have the mentality of working in a new innovative way in the 21th century and believe that high quality of doing our job and trust to our clients will make us strong.
Our new website http://www.aangenamerondernemen.nl will be online after the 7th of March.
Offence is the best defense
This is a well-known saying of the famous Dutch soccer player Johan Cruijff. It’s simply impossible to score a goal when playing purely on the defense. It’s inevitable you won’t win if you don’t score. Moreover the likelihood of loosing will increase each and every time you don’t even try to score a goal. So why is it that in times of recession most people decide to play defense? As an entrepreneur I am somewhat happy about this “looser attitude”, because it makes it easier for me to win.
How to succeed in soccer terms? Trim your fat, you need to run faster than your competitor, improve your techniques and your perseverance should be higher. Put your best selection on the field and transfer your weakest players to a league that has weak competitors. Change the selection of your team at some critical points if you need to adapt to the new teams in your league.
Yet most important element is to put your team in the field with a plan; with a clear strategy. They should be well trained before they hit the fields and well coached during the match. During half-time the team should get feedback on their individual performance, on their performance as a team and maybe some tips and tricks on how to crush the defense of the other team. Unnecessarily to say how important a recap is after every match.
To come out of this period as victors companies should continue their offence and put their emphasis on their employees who interact with the customer. In the end they are responsible for scoring the goals; they are responsible for helping the client in its decision to purchase. Especially now companies should focus on friendliness, selling skills, product knowledge and empathy of those who interact with the client.
At the end of this rough season it is these companies that will have scored the most goals and victories and thus lead their markets. And as mentioned; It’s actually quiet easy to win as most companies are playing defense.
Marketing isn’t about money, it’s about value.
VisionMedia is a digital communications and marketing firm from Argentina. As a company we think there a huge opportunity helping European and American companies to reduce production costs working as third party partners.
My personal opinion is that there’s also a good chance for all the consumers (specially investors) on searching for more transparent and realistic investments.
I also think this is a good chance for all of us to re-think our ways of production and consume in all aspects. Governments with more concern about savings (specially energy using own sources to avoid imports and reduce climate impact), Individuals thinking in the same direction. We all have to think for efficiency (understood as best relationship between cost and benefit, and not as bad cheap stuff) in all fields.
http://www.sprout.nl/artikel.jsp?id=1736761
I love this website! You’re right: remember this is not an economic crisis yet, it’s a credit crisis. There’s enough demand, there’s enough good and solid supply and technology. Why would an economy not flourish without too much financial credit? Let’s rediscover the real meaning of credit: trust in your main business partners. And trust in real leaders who authentically inspire. Let’s rebuild our economy in terms of appropriate scale. Stock markets may vanish. Entrepreneurship, inspiration and creativity will replace the classic productionfactors capital and labour. Those who will invest in these values will survive. Crisis? What crisis …..
First, let me wish everyone on this forum a Healthy and Succesful 2009!
I would also like to express that I’m an optimistic person, but have seen a number of reactions that gave me the idea that as long as one denies the crisis, it isn’t there! Possibly many people don’t quite understand the magnitude of this crisis. Even fast growing countries like China and India feel the downturn, possibly even more than we do in the West, since they got used to double digit growth figures.
The main cause for this crisis is the credit bubble we have been creating during the last three or four decades. We have been living in a fantasy world where the amount of credit in 2007 was several times higher than there was real money and this bubble exploded Sept. 2008.
So is this something new or have we seen it before? You might want to visit kondratiefwinter.com (see link below) to see this is a ‘normal’ economic pattern, emerging every 60 years or so. This website is not intended to make everyone feel bad about current times, but I think it reveals that this crisis is gonna be here for a while. Unfortunately.
Also, watching the video may help to have a better understanding. It’s not just about loss of confidence, these are real facts.
Links:
http://www.kondratieffwinter.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8r-nDBx5Jg
The Market is very clear right now. For us at BusinessGlass.nl however, it always was. ‘Glashelder’ or Crystal Clear is what your company needs to be, to keep the confidence of your customers. To gain an order from new customers takes 7 times more effort than gaining one from your existing customers. So don’t keep them waiting, spoil them. Be an exhibitionist, show them what you’ve got!
Someone told me that the Chinese Character for Crisis, is the same as the one for Chance. If this is true, take it. If it’s not, make it true!!
Law of attraction says that the universe doesn’t listen to NO. The anti-war groups are actually giving energy to war. Better to start a peace group. Do not try to stop a crisis, but start a growth club
Just my 2¢
Some random thoughts:
“There are no limitations to the mind except those we acknowledge; both poverty and riches are the offspring of thought.” - Napoleon Hill
“In every adversity is the seed of opportunity.”
No matter the economy - people still have to eat, become more educated, house themselves, wear clothes, have babies and communicate with each other. Meeting these basic needs requires faith in others and in our economy.
It is what you make it.
Iedereen weet het “Buy low,Sell high”.
Maar ga je nu weer wachten tot de AEX op 700 staat voordat je instapt?
Nu is het moment om je slag te slaan en aandelen van echte degelijke bedrijven te kopen voor een spotprijs.Als straks het grote publiek weer vertrouwen krijgt ben jij de winnaar waar ze het op feestjes over hebben.
Never before was the start of a crisis so unreal and so unfelt by customers on mainland Europe. Do we really have a problem? If the mainland europe sees and increase in spending power due to reduced inflation, then why will the real economy go down? Only because the banks will ask too much for their credit which is granted to them for historically low rates by the ECB?
Agree that a downturn happens every 7-10 years, and that it will seperate the boys from the men, which is a good thing…..But this one is a bit of an odd duck…isn’t it?
Agree that we should stop the negativism and be realistic!
Banks do need more (professional) supervision, because they have proven to be the crooks all entrepreneurs thought they always were afterall!!
But their “solution” is increase prices (=interest rates) instead of working harder for their money!!
Only enterpreneurs can create the needed change…as they have done with all crisises before…
Hang loose!
Thomas
Our company Venrooy Cable Equipment has doubled its order-intake for 2009, and showed a growth of 42% in 2008. We improved our position in The Benelux and are getting a stronger foothold in other EU countries now. This has all been about smart innovation, about good cost control, and most importantly about creating a strong team of smart professionals who are driven and daring = good entrepreneurship.
We see the economic crisis as an enormous opportunity for companies that have organised themselves well, who have outperforming products and services, who work smarter. Isn’t it a natural phenomenon that the weak drop out and the strong survive ? Shouldn’t governments be a little more careful with spending huge funds of which a considerable percentage will prove paliative care ?
The international press needs to shame itself by putting their sole focus on the threats and leaving away attention to the enormous opportunities it creates for volatile companies. Why don’t they pick up their responsibility; are they not aware that they are creating the wrong selffulfilling prophecies ? If entrepreneurs like us would show the same behaviour as the International Press, than “Europe Ltd” would have been broke by now. So, we will continue doing the opposite.
Will Robben
Managing Director and Owner of Venrooy Cable Equipment bv
We had to surrender.
After 3 months of (severe) losses we had to close our company this week…
“Don’t be too optimistic, be a realist”, my banker said.
Wish you alle the best.
Entrepeneurs are heroes!
The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is DOING IT!
What crisis?
I am all alone here in my wine cellar, having just opened another bottle, looking at the news on my screen and this website. Apparently there is a so-called crisis.
Where?
Not here. Just hold on, let me count, 1..2….. …..32..33, no 34. I have 34 bottles of red wine left UNopened. Also a fair amount of sparkling, white and the odd bottle of good port.
This well help me well into 2009, maybe 2010 before any crisis is starting here at this particular little spot on earth.
Anyone who feels the urge to escape from so-called crises are welcome to join me here in the cellar. Don’t forget to bring your own bottle. I ain’t Santa Clause and if y’all start sipping on my bottles we’ll run dry in no time and be into trouble.
http://www.elsevier.nl/web/10216766/Nieuws/Internet-Gadgets/Joepie,-kredietcrisis-Ondernemer-start-opbeurende-site.htm
My situation is as follows:
I live in a house which is currently owned by this big project developer. He wants to demolish the whole block to build flats. Right now, I don’t have a rental contract, because he refuses to sign it; it would give me certain rights of not being forced to move out. He wants to have me out as soon as he destroys the block, but thanks to the recession, I can stay in here for much longer. And I don’t even have to pay rent, water, gas or electricity!
I love the crisis!
An optimist sees an opportunity in every threat, a pessimist finds a threat in every opportunity……… WHAT’s YOUR IMAGE !!!!!
Building on this I would like to make aneven more important statement for those who feel the challenge to go forward and create; “Never let anyone tell you NO who doens’t have the power to say YES”.
For me 2009 will be a superb challenge to grow in actions and last but not least in revenue.
All the best and look forward finding your Choice!
Be original, creative, relevant, hands on and especially; AWAKE.
Every economical cycle give opportunities and a new orientation of markets and customers.
This “crises” is the beginning of a new era, relevant solutions will be most wanted, old school business are in problems indeed.
Since the beginning of this worldwide financial dip in October, our company, HarverPro has gained a lot of new business from customers who want to spend less money and improve their promotional performance. We have confronted them with some all day examples and started the dialogue…
So positive and cost efficient business proposition will make the difference, in every conjuncture, but particularly in these days !
Mary Christmas and a successful 2009 HarverPro Interactive Communications & PR
The media are picking up the positive vibes! Please continue writing and adding stories!
http://www.quotenet.nl/biz/ondernemer_heeft_genoeg_van_crisis.php#meer (dutch)
Thank you for all your reactions until now!
http://www.stopcrisisnow.com
the media is spreading fear around , why who nows .
but it is not good for the people in de maintenance sector . first i got 5 projects for 2009 now they all be canceled . in 2008 from September till now 8 projects canceled .
can i laugh , no .
I’m a freelancer in the maintenance sector and my friends to but they are not happy about the crisis and the story’s in the media , and we hope for better times and positive reactions in the news and media .
lets hope in 2009 that we all can laugh and forget the problems of 2008 .
I currently see the crisis as a great oppertunity. First of all I see an increase of M&A’s which is good for consultants like me who are specialized in integration and restructurig.
Secondly we are currently setting up a new jobmarket (another one?!?) Yes, but with a complete different setup, and due to the crisis people are already starting to send out CV’s to the Monsters and Stepstones, I forsee a big growth there.
a crisis, is like a bush fire! it gives space to grow for new ones!
it forces you to think, to be clever, and outsmart the sitting power.
It’s a time to be jolly and happy because new times are coming.
not the holidays but the business opportunities are coming.
We are looking for any and all breakout strategies right now and reinventing our business in place. It’s probably easier to be a startup now but the opportunity for creativity is great.
Every experience is education and education leads to new experiences.
Fear is an interesting psychological concept in this period. Although fear can be good in some situations like taking a less risky neighborhood when you are taking a walk, it can also be destructive. Think about a person who is afraid of spiders. A person who is extremely afraid of spiders will always be afraid even if they have not seen one in weeks. These people clean there houses as often as they can and can even be afraid to sit in the garden, or go outside. The fear takes over and leads to the moment that they forget the wonderful experiences they can also have when being outside. Don’t let fear take over the opportunity to experience new things and grow!
So we have to see the crisis as an opportunity to make the next step. Take your company to the next level by investing in the people who are already working for you and who have the ability to make the difference. Take these employees to a higher level of quality and be ahead of the competition.
Survivors of the crisis are those who are able to think on the long-term. Short-term thinking is what brought us in this position in de first place. The most important thing to focus on when thinking about the future is investing in the development of your employees. Every day we, at qstaff, get the opportunity to turn this investment into new experiences.
Maarten Wessels,
Henriette van Dillen.
Qstaff
First let me take this opportunity to congratulate Jan and his team at AQ-Services for taking the initiative and hosting this community website.
Allow me to begin by saying that if insight is the catalyst for Action (which in most instances is trapped in a latent state), Let me see if I can add a different perspective to the conversation.
The Oxford Dictionary of Current English (not sure why they call it Current English – does it change that often?) defines “Crisis” as… “a time of severe difficulty or danger.”
Given the certain fallout from the current global economic situation, I think it irresponsible to ignore the challenging times we will all inevitably have to confront in the coming months. That said however, it may be prudent to put the current situation into perspective. Many of us (no disrespect to those who were not), were born after the 1960’s and so have little or no recollection of any real global crisis the magnitude of which we are experiencing today. It is only natural therefore we react to what we see as potentially the greatest ‘crisis’ we have ever known. The key word here being “Known”. I am not it any way discounting events which have hit the very heart and pocket of many over the last several decades, but I would say that if you were to go back to the years during World War II, you may have a different perception of the word crisis. For my part, so long as I have a roof over my head, clothes on my back, food on the table, and the capacity to support my family, I will be living more comfortably than almost half the world (that’s over 3 billion people), who live on less than US$2 per day. Now that may constitute severe difficulty and a crisis worth worrying about.
Guy Robertson
Managing Director
The Concilium Group
I no longer run a major business having sold up just before the “crisis”.
Yes, the money from this was invested and I am down 10%. But share prices, property etc. are maybe 30/40% below their medium term level, money is ridiculously cheap if you get it and soon the weaker opertaions will be weeded out leaving opportunities for start ups and existing firms with guts and flair.
Well what more can you want
We have been saying from the earliest days of what is now agreed to be a deep recession that now is NOT the time to pull in our horns and bury our heads. I believe now is the time to invest, take risks, and grow one’s business. While there can be no mistaking that tight credit, etc. can hamper one’s ability to grow, my approach has always been to depend more on cash than credit, so we’re trying to take advantage of a battered marketplace by growing our business. The death spiral to any business begins when it stops investing in its own growth; the businesses that continue to invest and grow in this economy will be much stronger when the economy emerges from this temporary time “in the ditch.”
Crisis ? What Crisis ?
Crisis is great for reflection, focus on whats important. Look at what over spenditure is both business and private.
Get your live back to the essentials , learn and grow even faster and better with this knowledge.
Now is the time to see who is resourceful, innovative and can help clients to win from the crisis. We at BARE are ready, we are more than happy to help anyone to win from the crisis.
The current crisis is the best news in years.
Prices will decrease, fuel prices have never been so low in years, we can visit the UK without returning bankrupt and eventually a crisis like this will create new opportunities.
This is the moment to come with new ideas to challenge the next 10 years!
Wim van de Nobelen is right! We are lazy and spoilt. Always blame others/external factors.
Shut up and put your money where your mouth is, people!
Glass half full or half empty, time for another (beer) run. Keep the juices flowing.
And the more reorgs, the more focus on quality (people). So I will be victorious.
LOL!
Success is a choice. And happiness is a direction, not a destination!
DJ
Independent consultant/zzp-er (Zwakzinnige Zonder Pensioen)
I say 3 letters: FTR: http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=EmxQ0VoxznM
In the hotel business December and January are always slow. However this year it’s really slow and we shouldn’t under estimate what’s happening in the world. Positive beleave that things will be better is always good and necessary but: it will take a long time. In A’dam right now room rates are decreasing dramatically which is NOT good at all. I try to promote my hotel in a different way by giving even more value for the clients money e.g.: stay three nights and pay only two including a welcome drink and nice gift. Another promotion is: book a room night this month or in January and get one for free on the same date next year! I contacted the area around the hotel with a leaf let (3000x): book a room night and get discount depinding you postal code! We have to work even harder to get the business in to survive the coming period and we hope we can!
I was graduated with a degree in Economics in 1978 and since that time I’ve read about, witnessed and experienced first hand the devastating effects of recessions on brands, organizations and people. The real, short-term need to cut costs inevitably, and tragically, trickles down to the very people organizations depend on for their long-term success: their customers.
How can this happen? If the customer experience is indeed the be-all end-all of profitable growth, why would smart people choose to cut off their brand noses to spite their financial faces? Simple. Most don’t have a clear view of the value of their brand from their customer’s viewpoint. So, in a panic, they hack away at the organization with a cleaver, instead of using a surgical laser.
Organizations that closely manage the customer experience take a rigorous approach to cost-cutting, through a lens of customer value. They work like maggots, selectively removing only the dead tissue (valueless spending and activities). In many cases, they end up saving money while improving the customer experience.
They do it by eliminating everything that customers really don’t care about, and increasing investment in what matters most; activities that drive attention and interest and trust and support. They question long-held assumptions about sourcing, staffing, marketing, and technology, and fund only those that have been shown to add value to the customer experience and to the brand. It requires the courage to raise the questions, along with the training and the passion to look for creative ways to fund customer experience improvements.
Smart organizations that focus relentlessly on what matters most to customers, while ignoring and eliminating those activities and investments that don’t matter, will not only survive this recession, but will thrive when the economy invariably turns around. The rest will find themselves in an even deeper and more perilous hole.
Here are my predictions for 2009:
http://www.acleareye.com/thoughts/Article_Nine_Predictions_for_2009.pdf
Here’s an idea:
Get everyone in your organisation to change their screen saver to
‘DO IT BETTER’.
I believe that the only responses to a business issue like this are to:
*Remain positive at all times - don’t allow the media to talk it up.
*Look at every detail of your business - and do everything better.
*Be creative and encourage your staff to come up with ideas too - in every part of your business.
*In the main, stick to your core business areas - it’s what you know best.
*Talk more to your key customers about their business and how you can help them - it’s what they are most interested in.
*Research your market - what are the trends over the last few months, what are customers thinking about, what do they want, and are you delivering to these changing neeeds?
*Look for opportunities - one man’s problem is another’s opportunity.
*Invoice clients early, chase your money early,and pay suppliers invoices on time - then the system is encouraged to work for eveyone.
*Think medium term too - about how to come out of this even stronger.
Be strong positive and creative
Harvey Gilbert
UK
This happens every 7 - 10 years. When we have absorbed this there will be beautiful years ahead of us.
Of course it seperates boys from men. But there’s nothing wrong with that.
One little advice for 2009. Stay close to your skills & talents. Stay away from your dreams.
Good Luck!
Most people are lazy. And what’s easier than to blame the economy or a crisis for not being succesfull? All entrepeneurs know you have to struggle to get your company up and running even in a good economy so a crisis doens’t scare us. It’s the mediocrity that’s blaming everything else but themselves.
A crisis like this is nothing more than a great shake-out of the poor and the average. So whose afraid! Not me. I’m not telling everybody how great I’m nor how great my company is I just put all effort in doing in what I do best, and for sure that’s not whining.
Greetings and good business
Wim van den Nobelen
Managing Partner Strictly People
these times force us to be sharper, better and more creative than we were yesterday. And we WILL be better than yesterday. Show new possibilities, new markets and new ways to improve your clients business and success will follow.
Kadenza is convinced that companies will invest more time, effort and money now to enable decision makers to make their business measurable and controllable. Our policy: improved insight is essential to improve results.
Kadenza offers solutions for all companies who want to have control of optimal company information to enhance their strategy, processes and results. With this we are in a unique position the coming years; we offer our clients their “Holey Grail”; information that will enable them to predict and control the future! We expect to increase our revenue by 50% in 2009!
Already we take advantage of the current economic downturn that has hit our competitors. We have recruited 10 new employees that will join our firm January 1st 2009!
Jeroen Blankendaal
Entrepeneur & Owner Kadenza
Our company AQ Services International will definitely not surrender. There are many opportunities. We’ll keep on investing in marketing and we are investing in new products and initiatives. We will expand to London by the beginning of next year.
Darwin said ‘it’s not the strongest of species that survive, nor the most intelligent but the one most responsive to change’
That is exactly what we do and what all entrepreneurs should do! Don’t sit still but be responsive to change and turn around all threats into opportunities! Play hard and have fun. I hope more people will share there thoughts and ideas at this website to show the world that there is still a lot to win!