It is almost three weeks now since the result and for many business owners we still have more questions than answers. There seemed to be an immediate period of concern, which was quickly smoothed over by Mr. Carney but further destabilised by political unrest; however the main thought still going through my mind is – how can I make the best of this?
Regardless of how we voted, now that the vote has happened, we need to be thinking about what opportunity it could bring us and how we will start to position ourselves. We need to stop wasting time questioning whether it will or won’t happen and speculating on whether we will fall into recession. There is many a proverb that suggests, “We are what we think”.
Instead we should be looking at ways to maximise this opportunity. Are there opportunities to work together in new ways? Do we have connections into influencing groups where we can give our views and share ideas on decision making that could bring benefits to not just our own industry but to those which feed into it. What foundations can be put in place now that will strengthen the longer term view but ensure short term strategy is re-aligned with minimum effort.
It is for us as business owners and business leaders to make sure we don’t create more problems, by pushing pause on short or medium term actions that will have a much greater impact in the years to come, and stop talking ourselves out of potentially great things. Change may be feared, but it is the only way to make progress. Now is a time for positivity, and for rolling our sleeves up and start planning for a new, great future.
As Socrates said so wisely: “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new”.