It is easy to get carried away by bad news about the economy these days, truth is it’s all we are bombarded with daily. All we hear are stories that in one stroke paint pictures of a bad-today and bleak tomorrow.

“STOCK ARE GETTING CRUSH’’

‘’XYZ COMPANY LEAD OFF 150 STAFF’’

‘’FDI DROP BY N1.3BN IN 2015-NBS’’

‘’FG-NIGERIANS SHOULD PREPARE FOR HARD TIMES’’

‘’OIL PRICE MAY DROP TO $20 a BARREL-EXPERT’’

‘’NAIRA DROPS FURTHER AGAINST THE DOLLAR, NOW N305’’

‘’MARKET IS SLOW-TRADERS’’

It doesn’t stop at headline, on the streets, in the market, at the news stand and wherever two or three are gathered. All people talk about is how things have gone bad, how thing were not as bad as this before.

The truth is, thing have never been good before for any generation. Even our parent who talk about the ‘’good old days’’ complained bitterly about those ‘’days’’ when they were in the thick of it.

What we can do as entrepreneurs is to step back, stop being part of the daily pity-party that seem to be the order of the day now. Take a closer look at the chaos and find opportunities in the ongoing melee. A situation cannot be so bad that it cannot serve as a good example of something that is bad. In other words, the smart businessman will find something good in the current downturn.

For instance, because of the restrictions on forex a lot of people are having problem importing goods. This provides 2 clear opportunities for those:

Who can source for foreign exchange by all means and continue importing.
And those who can start producing locally.
Someone told us recently that, a situation cannot be said to be completely bad if someone is benefitting from it. He asked if any of us pray for traffic hold up in the morning before setting out for work. We all said no, then he said “do you know that those who hawk/sell smacks and drinks on the road pray for hold-ups so they can sell?”

The government has changed and everything with it, the easy-money that gave us a false sense of economic security is no more. The only thing we have now is new challenges and opportunities for those who can overcome them.

Opportunities are out there.

Source: http://smetoolbox.com/2016/02/03/opportunities-are-out-there/