A successful business owner isn’t one who never has a downturn; it’s one who, when faced with a bad or difficult situation, knows how to turn it around.” These words, which I’ve never forgotten, are from someone I knew through business many years ago.
As the owner of a spa or massage practice or someone who in charge of running one, no doubt you’ve found yourself in an extremely challenging situation – maybe even more than once - whether it’s financial or operational, at first, the situation may seem impossible to resolve. However, if you can approach the situation with the right frame of mind and, if necessary, a willingness to try something new, you can set things back on course and even learn something valuable along the way.
When faced with a difficult situation, above all, you want to keep control to make sure things don’t go from bad to worse. When you are in control, you make better decisions. Also, try to maintain a positive attitude no matter how bad the situation is. It will prevent you from panicking and help you focus your time and energy on turning things around.
In “How to Turn Around Nearly Anything” on the Harvard Review blog, Rosabeth Moss Kanter offers several suggestions on how to manage a turnaround related to working with your team. Among her recommendations:
Be Prepared for Bad News
Moss Kanter advises that you face the facts squarely and don’t hold back or gloss over inconvenient ones, especially if you are engaging your team to help you in the decision making. Acknowledge the full extent of the problem and encourage open dialogue so that everyone involved can determine how they can contribute to resolving the issue.
Find a Meaningful Unifying Purpose
When a business loses sight of its purpose, it can become fragmented. To successfully turn around a bad situation, you need to have a common vision of success – for example, to be the number one provider of massage for a particular demographic in your area – and make sure that everyone on your team is on board.
Give Voice to People who haven’t been Heard
Encourage everyone to speak up and share their ideas. People on your team who might normally not speak up may have highly creative ideas or a different take on approaching the challenge. Also, don’t only look for big ideas. Think small, too. Turnarounds don’t only depend on big strategies and systems, which generally take time to implement, Ross Kanter points out. There are a lot of small wins along the way to set your business back on course.
No matter how grim things may appear, keep up your spirits. Nothing in life goes smoothly. When faced with a difficult situation, focus your attention on positive action and don’t give up. You’ll find that things pass, and you’ll be back on track or, better yet, ahead.