What are you willing to change?

Yeah, I get it. It is a rough economy. Businesses are failing. People are out of work. Making it through the tough economy is just plain tough.

Blah, Blah, Blah.

Forgive me if I sound insensitive… or don’t forgive me, I don’t care.

Times change (the people voted for change, didn’t they). Situations change.

The real question is, “Are you willing to change?”

Are you willing to change your life style? Are you willing to change the amount of money you make? Are you willing to change your approach to the way you run your business?

If the answer is no to any of those questions, then you deserve what you get.

I am amazed at the people I interview that don’t understand this simple concept.

Last month I interviewed a potential designer for my company. He got laid off almost a year ago from a non-profit after making $30,000 per year. Asking him what he wanted to make, he said he was worth $55,000. Asking him what he wanted to do with his career he said he wanted to run his own business.

So, my choice to hire him meant hiring someone for nearly double what he was making before he was laid off that really didn’t want to work for me.

You may have guessed it, I didn’t hire him.

The economy is rough. Businesses have to cut back. Government should cut back (oh, if only they would). Because of this, people need to be willing to cut back. The job market is tough because people still expect to earn the same they were earning before they lost their jobs.

If you lost your job, guess what, it’s because you cost the company too much. Whether you were in a position to negotiate or not, you simply were costing the company more money than they could or wanted to spend.

The same is true with business. If you are losing your client base, you are simply costing more than your customers can or want to afford. You can try to drop your price or show more value.

I choose to show more value. If you can do that, you’ll be fine… but you have to change how you do things and present yourself.

You have to do it now or you might get left behind.