Thriving in the midst of difficulties such as economic downturn, inflation, and high uncertainties in the micro and macro-economic spaces can be daunting. I have seen several instances where real money are lost and hopes dashed in the midst of personal finance and business collapse. Some families have had to redesign their living patterns and dreams to cope with the effects of financial-related crisis.
There is a story that we considered in our case study (in the Analysis of Business Problems – ABP course of the Lagos Business School Executive MBA program that I currently run at the school) of a particular family. This family ran a grocery store at the heart of Festac Town, in the early days of the estate. The store was recording a steady increase in patronage and grew to become the largest with arguably the highest turnover in the neighborhood. The store was also considered to be enjoying a monopoly of the estate as it was the only grocery shop situated in the locality, hence people literally needed to patronize the store.
The store was financially buoyant hence, the entire family depended on the proceeds of the store to sponsor living, educational, and other critical home-related expenses.
However at some point, the management agency in charge of the FESTAC estate where the store was situated began to fail in the duty of regulating the estate development and maintenance, hence many unapproved building plans sprang up including commercial ones dedicated to the building of similar stores as that of the family mentioned earlier.
As you may suspect, this family business began to experience diverse challenges from other stores that were not very far and could offer the same quality and range of products at probably better rates. Some of the new stores even had better ambiance since they were new and could afford to use the most recent designs and machinery to enhance the attractiveness of their store.
Before long, power costs became a challenge nationwide and because the competition was shrinking revenues and margins for this family store, it could not cope with the tides and collapsed. It was closed down, and the family completely relocated away from the country via the ‘Japa route’. I mean the entire family, father, mother, and children.
There are usually several questions on our minds when dealing with challenges as individuals or businesses. Some of which include:
- Is this a self-inflicted problem?
- Is this based on a lack of competency?
- Is this based on a lack of relevant and sufficient information?
- Is this due to a lack of external support?
Take 100% Responsibility for the Outcome
In all that you do or in any situation where you may find yourself, avoid pointing accusatory fingers at others when an event turns south. Rather, look inwards and settle on the most crucial matter – which bothers what you would have done differently to avoid failures and setbacks.
I have learned about this art of taking 100% responsibility and I must confess, it’s not easy to play the fall guy – most especially in situations where events and people obviously played against you. It can be really devastating but it takes real candor and courage to face the realities and evaluate the situation with fewer emotions at the moment. Find out and you will realize that there was still something that could have been done differently.
Accepting 100% responsibility does not completely immune you from failure, but it immunes you from the foolishness of feeling like a victim. It then also gives you the ability to learn your lessons and accept the key action plans that can be applied to effect positive changes.
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