Recession Gurus

BUSINESS ADVICE:For some, the global recession spells nothing but doom and a sense of despair at the problems that lie ahead. But for others - the business gurus - the answers are as plain as the nose on their face All of our successful entrepreneurs displayed a positive, energetic attitude and, crucially, identified attitude as being the single most important attribute any person can have.

WHILE THE rest of us weep, business gurus the world over are rolling up their sleeves at the prospect of the challenges ahead, for it is in a recession that these boardroom sages come into their own. With more and more companies going to the wall, business self-help books have exploded in popularity - but what do they advise and should you be listening?

In Beat the 2008 Recession: A Blueprint for Business Survival, Nicholas Bate's advice for coping with a recession can be summed up thus: keep a close eye on credit control and profit margins. "A recession means that attention to your lifeblood - cash - and an eye on the ultimate goal - profit - cannot be half-hearted. Focus on getting cash in, stopping money wastage and building profitability. That way not only will you survive, you will also thrive," he says.

Moreover, many experts say during a recession is the best time to start a business.

In Grabbing the Oyster, Pearce Flannery, who made his name offering advice to the Irish motor industry, serves up several anecdotes and advice from key Irish business personalities, as well as his own insights into what makes a successful business.

"Entrepreneurs prefer to work when the economy is in recession, because the recession creates better opportunities," says Padraig O'Ceidigh, founder of Aer Arann, while in the same book, James Sheehan describes how he set up Blackrock Clinic in 1981, just when the recession of the 1980s was reaching its peak. He tells how he had to mortgage his home to finance it at a time when interest rates averaged 23 per cent.

While some consider a long-term plan essential - particularly in the current challenging environment - O'Ceidigh says the value of this can be over-estimated. "I focus on the journey; I've never looked long term. In fact, in business and in life, I think it can be dangerous to look too much at the long term," he says.

In addition to the business gurus who draw on their own experiences to advise others, the boom years of the past decade have led to a rise in the number of specialists, such as "futurists" or "intuitionists", who have their own unique - sometimes bizarre - methods of helping businesses.

Futurist Patrick Dixon is known as a "global change guru" and advises multinationals on identifying future global trends. The author of 12 books, including Futurewise, Dixon offers prescient advice companies such as Lehman Brothers would have done well to pay attention to. "Your company may have a reputation for brilliant leadership, outstanding innovation, clever branding and effective change management, but the business could fail if the world changes and you are unprepared," he says.

For businesses looking for something a little bit different, "intuitionism" is a branch of futurism where practitioners use their psychic abilities to give advice on what may affect businesses in the future. One of the most well-known is Laura Day, a 49-year-old New York mother with no business training, who says she has earned $10 million advising everyone from hedge-fund managers to Hollywood movie stars. Day is the author of Practical Intuitionand has brought a corporate respectability to her psychic abilities, claiming to advise major companies such as Seagate Technology on whether they should go ahead with deals or if investors should pull out of certain investments - all based on her gut instinct.

A common mantra among almost all business gurus is the importance of hiring the right people. "To succeed, I would say, hire the right people. No other thing. Because, you know . . . talented people are what drive growth in businesses," says Anne Heraty, founder of recruitment group CPL.

But there is no clear set of criteria for recruiting staff. In Grabbing the Oyster, Declan Ganley, chairman of the Libertas Institute, questions the role of education ("I've met some Harvard MBAs I wouldn't hire in a lifetime") and the extent to which entrepreneurship can be taught.

"It is like music," he says. "You can teach someone how to play the guitar, but can you teach someone to play like Eric Clapton? I don't think so," he says.

Attitude, the gurus agree, is a far more important personality trait.

"Write it down. Study it. Put it in on your bedroom wall. Embrace it, because there is no getting away from it and there is no substitute for it. Every single one of our successful entrepreneurs displayed a positive, energetic attitude and, crucially, identified attitude as being the single most important attribute any person can have," says Flannery.

And, while not an obvious prerequisite for a successful business, many gurus highlight the importance of humour in the workplace.

"For me, it's always been important to keep the humour in the workplace and to keep smiles on faces," says Feargal Quinn, founder of Superquinn supermarkets, in Flannery's book. Bate agrees. "Fun is a stand-up spot at the monthly meeting," he says, recommending employers hold onto a great joke or anecdote for a company meeting so you can "let them leave feeling really good".

Dixon also highlights the importance of keeping employees happy and is a proponent of "happynomics", which is about the links between wealth and happiness and the economics of happiness.

"It is hard to feel engaged if you are unhappy at work. Unhappiness is a major cause of lost productivity: people take time off work at the least excuse, cannot concentrate, work more slowly. They may be unhappy with work, or with their personal lives - and these emotions connect together," he says.

Positivity is also crucial to being successful. "If you can't say anything positive, don't say anything at all," says Flannery, and he suggests using positive affirmations to acquire a positive mindset. Giving an example of his own affirmation, he writes, "Pearce Flannery is now writing the best book ever to be written on the subject of Irish business personalities."

Lifestyle issues are also frequently addressed by business gurus. Bate advises business owners to "get sleep . . . get exercise . . . keep hydrated". "Look after what is your greatest asset by far in this recession: your brain."

Likewise, Flannery identifies a link between entrepreneurship and physical fitness and as such recommends would-be entrepreneurs get enough sleep, cut down on fatty foods and caffeine, and walk outdoors for 30 to 40 minutes at a "brisk pace" three or four days a week.

When it comes to troublesome employees - the underperformers, the cynics, the people whose fault or responsibility it never is - Flannery is straight to the point: "Dispense with arseholes. Stay away from them, ignore them and, whatever you do, do not listen to them. They will suck the life force out of you. This cannot be overstated. Negative people are to be avoided as much as is practically possible."