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The reality of staying strong

The LBM Journal team typically operates out of a cozy little office suite on the second floor of a bank building. It’s not fancy, but we’ve got crazy fast WiFi, great computers and technology tools, and everyone has a window. In “rush hour” traffic, it’s an eight-minute drive from my home. I haven’t worked from that office in six weeks, but I’ve been thinking more and more about the framed quote that hangs on the wall by my desk: “Reality isn’t the way you wish things to be, or the way they appear to be, but the way they actually are. You either acknowledge reality and use it to your benefit, or it will automatically work against you.” – Robert Ringer

As I write this on April 30 (on an old Mac in a spare room above our garage), no one knows how quickly we’ll get back to normal—or even exactly what “normal” will look like. Instead of focusing on that, my days are spent working on ways to use the tools at my disposal to deliver the information and insights that you and the rest of the LBM community need to make the most of our current reality, and to position ourselves for the post-coronavirus normal.

Credit expert and LBM Journal columnist Thea Dudley reminded me of a quote by Winston Churchill that today is more relevant than ever: “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” According to an October, 2013 article in the McKinsey Quarterly, “Companies that reallocated their resources during tough times enjoyed significantly higher returns.” In other words, the smart move during bad times is not to hunker down and wait for it to pass. Instead, companies that use tough times to actively evaluate and refine their operations come out stronger on the other side.

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History shows clearly that every economic downturn results in winners and losers. The winners work hard to use the downturn to study their business and their operations—to leverage their strengths and work on their weaknesses. By doing so, they come out stronger and smarter. Later this morning, I’ll be hosting a free webinar with operations expert Shane Soule called, “Inefficient Delivery Processes: EXPOSED.” (Catch a replay here.) Think about using this opportunity to refine your processes to be better and smarter. More than 1,000 LBM pros attended a free LBM webinar two days ago with Rick Davis called, “Selling normally in abnormal times.” More than 500 LBM pros have attended each of the free LBM webinars featuring Thea Dudley talking about credit and cashflow.

Are these tough times? Yes. Do we all wish we’d never heard the word coronavirus? Yes. But the reality is we are all living and working through unprecedented times. We’re members of an incredible community, and like all communities…staying strong means working together.

Let’s do this.

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