AUDIO: How to outsmart (and outlive) the recession

PHOENIX, ARIZ.
March 3, 2010 12:01am

With the Great Recession still throttling Main Street, many small businesses are fighting to stay solvent and keep the doors open.

Now, a veteran entrepreneur has distilled years of practical advice from small business owners into a new book keyed to the times, “The Small Business Survival Guide: How to Survive (and Thrive) During Tough Times.”

Old saws like "tighten your belt" or "do more with less" or "think creatively" are useless unless a business owner or manager can implement them, says author Ray Silverstein, who is also a columnist for Entrepreneur.com.

“The concepts in the book come from my experiences and also from dealing with small business owners,” says Mr. Silverstein. “It touches on all gamuts on how to survive”

(Ray Silverstein reveals some of the practical advice in his new book in today’s CVBT Audio Interview. Please left-click on the link below to listen now or right-click to download the MP3 audio file for later listening.)

Mr. Silverstein says much of the book has come from the advice collected through the President's Resource Organization, a network of peer advisory boards for entrepreneurs that he has lead for more than 16 years.

The recession can cause a business owner to make unpleasant decisions, says Mr. Silverstein.

“I think the attitude that you must take is if you don’t make it through … that everyone loses,” he says.

But, says Mr. Silverstein, the recession isn’t entirely bad – it could be a boon to those small businesses that can take advantage of opportunities now such as hiring better talent or acquiring the customers, equipment, or even the entire business of weakened competitors.