Thriving in Times of Crisis

Hans Beck died in February.

Who, you say?

Hans Beck, inventor of Playmobil Toys. You know…those three-inch pirates, cowboys and knights. The ones that
have no knees!! My Kevin loves them! Some have been in my house for almost 25 years! Extraordinarily popular, durable toys.

Simple toys.

Hans Beck was a millionaire. Over 2 billion of these Playmobil toy figures have been sold. Do you know when they first became a viable product? During a severe economic crisis. In the early 1970’s there was a global oil crisis. Since toys are made of plastic and plastic comes from oil, the crisis threatened the toy industry. While Hans Beck could have, I imagine, simply read the headlines of the day and given up, he didn’t allow the media or the government to control the outcome of his life.

He didn’t just wait to be run over by an economic catastrophe.

He reinvented. He had to design something that kids still liked, but which was smaller. The toys had no knees, no noses but a stylized design. According to the Washington Post obituary, his new toys were a smashing success, selling more than a million dollars’ worth in the first year.

Yes, we are in an economic crisis now, but I know plenty of individuals and small businesses who are thriving. One told me that he wouldn’t notice that there was a recession going on unless he read the newspapers (which he avoids doing because rarely is there anything actually useful in today’s newspapers—and they wonder why they are all dying).
What do these successful people have in common?

First, they aren’t sitting on their butts waiting for a “bailout.” In fact, they resent this whole “bailout” idea as un-American. (Do you know how many cars GM would have to sell to repay $16 billion dollars? Has America really missed the failed car companies that the market killed off? But…I digress.)

Second, they are learners. They recognize that what human beings have that animals don’t is the God-given ability to learn new things and then use their consciousnesses to take what they have learned and make it bigger and better. The world is waiting for the next great idea.

Third, they hate hanging out with “Eeyore.” You know Eeyore. The world is always gloomy, the sky is falling and we have no control over our impending doom. If they have friends who are “Eeyores,” they dump them (harsh, I know…but you have a choice. I’ve dumped plenty of Eeyores from my life). They get out of groups that
are filled with Eeyores.

Fourth, they seek out and find other winners and then they associate with them. They are out there, folks. I’ve got a bunch of them in a new Northern Virginia Small Business Entrepreneur group and they are kicking butt and taking names.