As we approach the end of yet another year, we find ourselves reflecting, and in many cases asking ourselves, what did we really achieve this year. In Business it is the same.

It is easy to blame the economy, strikes, staff, managers, suppliers, customers or the government for a bad year. Sometimes we, as business owners and entrepreneurs also need to take responsibility for the “BAD” year or results. If we start to reflect, we can immediately see that in many areas where we are blaming uncontrollable forces, we can actually make different decisions in order to take our businesses in a different direction.

Unfortunately, we are creatures of habit and it is difficult to change what we do, or how we do it. in tough economic times, we cannot run our businesses the way we run them in good times. Tough times are great to scale down, gain efficiencies and build better controls.

I therefore encourage you over this festive season, to reflect positively on your businesses and find areas that can be changed or adapted within your businesses to counter the current negative conditions within the market. One of your actions could be to engage with a buiness advisory, who can assist with this thinking.

Wishing you all a happy and safe festive season.