Small business takes confidence and courage

— -- Being in business takes confidence and courage, especially in times like these. Buyers aren't buying. Lenders aren't lending. Everyone delays making decisions, because everything seems so uncertain.

How do you — how do I — as a business owner survive and thrive in uncertain times?

At times like these, it may help to recall the old saying, "I complained I had no shoes until I met someone who had no feet." As bad as it may be to be self-employed right now, it's probably far worse to have an uncertain job. There are lessons to be learned by remembering exactly why you're in business for yourself and, indeed, how much better off you have it than those people who are waiting for the corporate office to decide whether they'll still have a job next month.

Like virtually every other businessperson, I'm also facing uncertain times. I'm in an industry undergoing dramatic changes and unprecedented threats — book publishing. In case you haven't heard, there's something called the Internet where lots of people now go for information when they used to buy books. And my books are sold in bookstores — like the one down the street from you that's now closed.

Here's what I reminded myself of the other day: I can do something about it. No, I can't change the industry dynamics. But as a person who owns a business or who is self-employed, I can make decisions, take actions. I can help shape my economic destiny. Sure, I don't have complete control — I may have to make major changes in my business, my expenses, the nature of my work — but at least I can do something to help keep my business alive and my employees keep their jobs. (Because, believe me, laying someone off is not something any responsible business owner wants to do.)

I compare my reality to people who have lost their jobs or are waiting to hear whether they're going to lose their jobs. It's not that they have no control over their destiny, but they don't have nearly the day-to-day sense of empowerment that I do — or that you can, for that matter.