There is always a pile of books on management and entrepreneurship to choose from, and although I don’t find grand revelations in every book I pick up, I do like the search. Recently, I discovered a new book, and what has stuck with me is the author's description of catastrophic thinking or catastrophizing.
The author presented this as a pattern that he noticed in himself. As he explained, he had recently started a new enterprise and it was moving along in fits and starts, as a new business is wont to do. He noticed that he found himself projecting one negative event to the nth degree at every downturn or bad week.
“Okay, I got half as many orders as I normally do. That means I’m not going to be able to cover some bills — what if it happens again? I won’t be able to pay this month’s rent!” By the end of this thought exercise, he was living on the streets and had lost most of his teeth.
The author asserted that moments like these are a lesson for entrepreneurs to know when to get out of their own way because that thinking doesn’t stop at logical points. It spirals indefinitely until you've convinced yourself that you're in some dark, awful pit with no means of egress.
I want to think I am not the only person who saw themselves reflected in the author’s panic and “what if” response. In business, emotional swings are to be expected. When you run your own business, whether a growing startup or a plateaued mature company, you will simply have to ride the emotional rollercoaster.
As I considered the familiarity of this pattern, though, I developed a question. If it’s easy for owners to ride the emotional rollercoaster down, why can’t we ride it back up to the top? The fantasy of slipping ever downward is compelling, but if we’re really considering this a rollercoaster, you should be able to use that downward force to ride back up the other side to new heights.
When you’re riding the rollercoaster down, you’re projecting a fantasy of scarcity. “What if I don’t sell as much as I need to? What if I come in under the line?” While this fear is compelling, that doesn’t change its unreal nature. So, if we indulge in fantasies anyway, why not make them ones of abundance? “What if I sell an extra 10 units? How would I handle it if I sold a hundred more; how would I manage that kind of rampant growth?”
In response to that question, there are more than a few books that give guidance on how to scale up your business. This can lead to interesting hypotheticals and planning scenarios. However, the advice is somewhat limited by the refrain, “Just ask somebody to loan you $100 million so you can afford to lose $10 million annually for 10 years.” While I do not doubt that that plan of attack is effective, it’s not something that most people can even conceive of, let alone enact.
If you’re an average human without access to near-limitless capital and looking to advance your business, I’d recommend investing the time planning for your business’ success instead of dreading its downfall. Take some time and paint the picture of what a little more success looks like — and then a lot more.
From there, start backing into scenarios like, “If I did this and got one, how could I do that again and get two? What behaviors got me there? What did I do that generated success, and how do I do it again — and bigger?”
There will always be strong positive and negative emotions that come with owning and operating a business. But just like you ride the rollercoaster down with alarming speed, you can use that same energy to propel yourself upward and create a vision of where you’d like your business to be. Once you can see it, you’ll be able to start taking concrete steps to make that goal a reality.
Doug Phares is the former CEO of the Sandusky News Group. He currently serves as managing director of Silverwind Enterprises, which owns and provides management services to small businesses. He can be reached at doug@silverwind.biz.
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