STAYING

AFLOAT
IN

TRYING
TIMES
By Segun Olatunji, PhD
Director/Consultant
Tribune Group
 It is not the strongest of the species
that survive, nor the most
intelligent, but the one most
responsive to change
-Charles Darwin

A calm sea does not make a skilled

sailor
-Ted Turner, owner of Cable News Network (CNN)

Your income is directly related to your philosophy,

not the economy
-JIM ROHN, American business philosopher

Change is not a threat. It is an

opportunity
-Seth Godin

You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose
Dr. Seuss
INTRODUCTION: Hard times are blessings in disguise. We do
have to suffer, but, at the end, the sufferings make us stronger,
better and wiser. Staying afloat in trying times as a broker is the
ability to continue in business despite the economic downturn.
The months ahead will be challenging for the financial services
sector while brokers will face significant uncertainties. If the
drop in oil prices at the international market continue, it will
make the economy struggle to maintain and increase positive
momentum.
Growth opportunities for brokers may be hard to come by in
such a situation, but there are some key steps that could give
you, as an individual or a firm, an advantage over others.

24 STEPS TO SURVIVAL IN TRYING TIMES

(1) Face the realities of the Nigerian economy.
Nigeria owes $60 billion
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo

-Nigerias debt stands at N12 trillion

The Punch, 11 May 2015
-$400bn oil revenue stolen since independence- global crude oil
watchdog
New Telegraph, 11 May 2015

-Nigerian economy in deep trouble

-President Buhari in his inaugural address

-Nigerias economy is so bad that l wonder how Buhari will fix it

-CBN Director

(2) There are opportunities in trying times. CNN said more

billionaires were made during the current recession than before
it. The Japanese have two instructive inscriptions on their coins:
problems and opportunities. In other words, without problems,
there will be no opportunities. So problems bring opportunities.

(3) Be ready to do what you hate. Be ready to leave your

comfort zone. The business world is a terrain for the Mafioso.
Be ready to do what you have never done. For you to have
what you have never had, you must do what you have never
done. You must be ready to take any legitimate action that will
improve your business. This is because the best way to win a
match is through offence and not defence.

The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer

-Isabel dos Santos

We generate fears while we sit. We overcome them by action.

Fear is natures way of warning us to get busy
Dr Henry Link

(4) Have an open mind. Be ready to do things differently. Do

not be traditional or fixated. Minds are like parachutes. They
function only when they are open. Our situations dont change
until we change.
It is insanity to continue to do the same thing and expect a
different result. Whatever got you where you are today will
not keep you there tomorrow. If we are still doing our
business the way we were doing it years ago, then, we are not
ready for the challenges presented by the economy.

(5) Be optimistic. One of the first casualties of a trying time is

enthusiasm, but that is one thing that should not be lost at any
point. The leader must exude enthusiasm and remain
passionate about the enterprise to transmit same to the team
members.

(6) Communicate frequently with your staff. This is more so in

trying times when there are a lot of uncertainties about the
economy and ugly rumours can take on a life of their own. Staff
are particularly fearful during a recession, even the best of
them.
A study shows that staff, even in the best of times, value
communication more than salary. They want to know how the
company is doing and where they stand. Be honest with them.
Do not promise what you cannot deliver.

(7) Put your customers at the centre of your business. Your

customers are why you are in business. They are your real
bosses. When you talk about market forces, you are referring to
them. They are the forces that can keep you in business or out
of business. You must take time to understand the mindset of
the customers and give them what they want, not what you
want. The business is not about you, it is about them. The
fastest way to improve your business is to listen to the
complaints of your customers and try to improve your service
accordingly. This is better than reading any textbook on
business.
(8) Be creative. Be innovative. Creativity is doing a new thing or
doing an old thing differently.

To think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we

normally take for granted
- George Kneller.

Imagination is everything. It is the preview of lifes coming

attractions.
Albert Einstein

Customers want goods and services that will solve their

problems and reduce their costs. That is what creativity or
innovation is all about. Your customers are becoming more
demanding and more sophisticated by the day and, therefore,
their wants are shifting.
You give the customers what they want, sometimes before they
ask for it. This is the approach the legendary Steve Jobs of
Apple recommended. He said sometimes, customers do not
know what they want until they see it. You have to put yourself
in their positions and think ahead for them. They will show
their appreciation for your efforts in this regard by patronising
you. It also makes you to be ahead of your industry, as the
Apple experience has shown.
You may need to repackage what you already offer. In the past,
you expected that clients would come. Now go to them.
Change your priorities by not limiting your business into
premium alone. You can do some consultancy job. The
environment is stifling because everyone is doing the same
thing. Depend more on referrals because of the credibility
problem of the insurance industry.

(9) Add value to your value. You do not need to reduce your
price initially. The principle is that you do not reduce your price
unless it is compulsory. What you need to do is add more value.
When the market eventually improves, as it will, it may not be
easy for you to increase your price again. The solution is that
you move your product from ordinary to extraordinary. Make
your service an extraordinary one and customers will eat out of
your hands. Also, as a broker, you can ensure that you provide
the full range of services permitted under your licenses. This
will increase your revenue base.
(10) Identify areas where you can make more money from your
current customers. You must find a way of making more money
from your current customer base. They are sometimes your
most reliable source of new income.

(11) Slash your cost. But do it intelligently. Do not cut your cost
in a manner that you find it difficult to deliver excellent
services. In other words, do not cut your capacity to deliver and
improve.
You may outsource some functions such as security, cleaning,
among others. But do not reduce your marketing budget.
Research shows that companies that do not reduce their
marketing budgets during a recession always perform better
than those that do. This is the time to show the market how
you are different from others. Sometimes, you need to
downsize. But try to avoid incremental cuts in staff strength. It
is demoralising. It will divert the energy of the staff and may
make top performers to leave, afraid that it will soon be their
turn to be sacked. Do it once. You may need to invest in
technology to reduce your costs.

(12) Manage your cash wisely. It is the lifeblood of any

organisation. In a recession, do only what will make the cash to
flow and discourage whatever will disrupt it. Set up a polite but
efficient way of collecting money from your clients. If cash is
poorly managed, it may lead to corporate paralysis. It may lead
to borrowing with its attendant consequences. There is the
need for brokers to subscribe to the virtue of prudence.
Without prudence, individuals and firms, even societies, cannot
achieve sustainable prosperity and sustainable development,
let alone surviving a trying time.

(13) Train and re-train your staff. If you do not expose your
workers to new things, you cannot expect them to do new
things. In a fast-changing world, inability to do new things is a
crippling deficiency. Training is one of the best motivations for
your workforce. When you invest in your staff, they are likely to
stay with you. Some will go, but enough will stay to keep your
business going. You will also get some people that you have not
trained.

You do not win a match by practising like the others

-Korean proverb

(14) Reward top performers. You should have a recognition

programme that rewards performing staff frequently. Pat
others on the back, not only yourself. Do all you can to retain
your star performers. Great businesses are built by great
talents. Wise business leaders do not allow hard times to force
them to relinquish their outstanding talents. Make your
employees enjoy working with you. If they do not, even the
best strategies will fail. Your employees are your internal
customers. The way you treat them is the way they will treat
external customers.
It is easy for competitors to duplicate your product or service.
But it is not easy for any competitor to duplicate a motivated
workforce. This may represent your niche in the market. A
motivated workforce will do what is required to achieve results.
Employees with a sense of mission will provide outstanding
value.

(15) Focus on what gives you the highest returns. Remember

the Pareto Principle or the 80/20 Rule. Ensure that the main
thing remains the main thing. Make sure that you are always
led by the big picture, where the organisation is headed, not
where it is. Always ask yourself: what are the most important
things that l must achieve to be regarded as a success in this
business? Just focus on that.

(16) Create new markets. Sell your services and products

through the internet. Eighty three million (83m) Nigerians were
on the internet as of February 2015, according to the Nigerian
Communications Commission, NCC (The Nation, 11 May 2015).
You can also consider exploring opportunities in neighbouring
countries. This will enable you to sell outside Nigeria. But while
creating a new market, ensure that you do not lose your hold
on your current market. Your current area of influence should
serve as a bridge to the new opportunities.

(17) Devise an effective debt collection strategy. In trying

times, people and companies naturally want to hold on to their
cash. You should improve on your debt collection drive. No
institution is perfect in this regard.

(18) Keep an eye on your competitors. No business opportunity

is ever lost. If you lose it, the competitor will find it. Just like in
football when you continue to probe your opponents goal
mouth for an opportunity to score, in business, you continue to
monitor your competitors for an opportunity to take advantage
of them. Study what they do right and what they do wrong.
Examine their strengths and weaknesses so that you can place
your business appropriately.
Ideally, anybody that has anything to offer is your competitor
because you are competing for the same scarce resources from
the customers. Your competitors may poach your best staff. Be
on the lookout. One way to stay crippled in trying times is for
you to allow competitors to constantly poach your best hands.

(19) Study those that are doing well in the same industry and
adapt what you can. Study thriving organisations to know what
they are doing right and adapt same to your operations.
Whatever feat has been achieved by one can be imitated and
improved upon by others.

(20) Continue with industry publicity and advertisements. It

takes some time for such to sink in.

People rarely buy what they need. They buy what they want
Seth Godin

You are doing a lot in terms of public awareness. But the reality
is that an overwhelming majority of Nigerians still do not know
about who insurance brokers are, not to talk of the benefits of
using them. Since you are allowed to advertise, you continue to
do so. Get in the social media.
(21) Learn continuously. KAI-ZEN in the Japanese language
means continuous improvement. Always look for a way of
improving your business, particularly in trying times.

(22) Work on regulatory provisions that limit your business.

Though these may not bear results overnight, it is still worth
the efforts.

(23) Work on your marriage. As strange as it may sound, a

marriage increases your concentration and, therefore, your
productivity level. Medical research has shown that those with
happy marriages have less of some diseases such as high blood
pressure. If your marriage does not give you joy, even a
successful career will not.

A man should never neglect his family for business

Walt Disney

(24) You must provide leadership. Without leadership, nothing

else in the company will work. I agree with J. C. Maxwell that
everything rises and falls on leadership. A leader provides the
right atmosphere for maximum productivity. No matter the
other resources that are in place, all will come to naught
without the right leadership. In a company, if you ask me,
leadership is the most important. If a place is doing well, it is
the leadership. If it is not, it is the leadership.

CONCLUSION
(1) The Colombian car manufacturer
(2) Thomas Edison
(3) The new king
(4) Abraham Lincoln
(5) The great 9