My last post about the Q1 Vistage CEO Confidence survey highlighted that I think small business CEOs are optimistic in general, however I questioned the relative optimism.
My bubble was officially burst when I read the Q2 Vistage CEO Confidence survey results.
In it, small business CEOs basically gave back all the gains that had been made in the last year, meaning that the private company CEO is basically about as confident, relatively speaking, as they were at the beginning of the recession once we knew we were in the recession.
What does any of this mean?
As I have advocated on several occasions, first double check the financial health of your business.
If you find that you are financially healthy, are you still reaching your personal goals?
If you find that you are financially healthy AND you are meeting your personal goals then please, please, please, stop worrying and listening to the news.
You are part of the fortunate.
For the rest of us, focus on the basics – are we healthy? Are we meeting our personal obligations?
I can appreciate that we might not be as far along as we'd all hope, however if we're meeting the basics then we really are fortunate and should be thankful as there are a lot of folks out there that are much less fortunate.
So how do you potentially move forward while confidence is down? Well, you can still make profit when times are negative.
Remember we're all heavily influenced by the news and most everything has been negative lately, whether it's the budget deal or deficits or the debt ceiling.
Remember that our great country was founded on conflict and compromise – our forefathers felt that debate was a great way to end up as a result that leads to a better future – we always find a way, that's why we are a great nation.
Surveys are just that, surveys – they reflect an opinion at a moment in time.