Back from the brink.

A setback is just a reason to come back stronger

On the road to entrepreneurial success, small business owners often find themselves in need of roadside assistance. In their effort to maintain their businesses, they face numerous challenges and obstacles.

Setbacks, whether financial or emotional, are a given. However, hard times and stress may just be a precursor to serendipity, say some entrepreneurs who have bounced back.

It's been nearly a decade since entrepreneur Ira Jackson Jr. chucked his big corporate sales job, complete with a hefty paycheck and plenty of perks, in order to purchase a practically penniless printing company in the suburbs of Atlanta. At the time, a lot of folks thought he had lost his mind. For a while, Jackson thought so, too. The company, Perfect Image, was anything but perfect. Poor management, sluggish sales, low employee morale, and a steadily shrinking customer pool were just a few of the reasons why the company was dangerously close to insolvency.

Armed with an obsessive desire to succeed, a keen focus, and the gift of gab, Jackson, 36, took over the company in May 1991. He reshaped, retooled, and re-energized it. "I knew that I wasn't going to give up," he says.

In addition to reading dozens of journal articles about manufacturing and the printing business, Jackson attended seminars and spoke regularly with employees and industry professionals. Although sales increased, the profitability languished, and for the first six years, the company continued to lose money. "I was losing money, but the amount I was losing decreased each year," says Jackson.

Finally, his efforts paid off. Today, Perfect Image is the largest minority-owned commercial printing company in Georgia, with annual average sales of $3.5 million. The company prints posters, pocket folders, training manuals, and marketing brochures, and was recently named the regional Supplier of the Year by the National Minority Suppliers Development Council (NMSDC).

When cookie master Wally Amos started Famous Amos Cookies in California in the mid-1970s, he quickly went from being the majority shareholder in a thriving little company to having no equity at all. Shoddy management, a negative cash flow, and a stack of delinquent invoices hurt the business. In addition, the company changed ownership several times. With each change, Amos' stake in the cookie company crumbled.

In a column posted at www.entreworld.org, a Website geared toward small businesses, Amos writes, "... Finally I was left with nothing but an employment agreement. It was clear that the new owners didn't want to work with me and I didn't want to work with them either, so I left."

But the setback was only momentary. Shortly after leaving the business, Amos pursued several different ventures. In 1992, he started Uncle No Name, which was renamed Uncle Wally's, a gourmet muffin company. He rejoined Famous Amos as a spokesperson for the brand at Keebler Foods in early 1998, and now does trade shows and radio promotions throughout the year. His advice to small business owners who may experience setbacks is simple: "The true entrepreneur focuses on answers and solutions, not the problem."

Willie Jolley is the president of Willie Jolley Worldwide in Washington, D.C., and is the author of two best-selling motivational and inspirational therapy books, It Only Takes a Minute to Change Your Life (St. Martin's Press, $9.99) and A Setback Is a Setup for a Comeback! (St. Martin's Press, $11.95). The books provide useful information on how letdowns and negative situations can be a catalyst to change and growth. Jolley frequently advises entrepreneurs about how to deal with the frustrations of owning a business, and says mar having a business setback is not an "if" proposition but more like a "when."

"Every supersuccessful businessperson has had setbacks," Jolley says. "They realize that a setback is not the end of the road, but rather a bend in the road. You must decide what you're going to do about the setback and focus on the solution." In addition, Jolley espouses the notion that while someone may not always be responsible for [their business] wavering, people are responsible for getting up and continuing to strive to achieve their personal and professional goals. He contends that a setback is really a change that needs to occur in order to move forward.

"It's essential to remember that a setback is a transitional period and a time to focus and refocus your vision," he says.

Harriet Michel, director of the NMSDC in New York, agrees with Jolley's assessment of how to deal with slumps and downslides in business ownership. However, Michel suggests that many of the disappointments faced by small business owners could be avoided if they set and maintain specific guidelines.

"I frequently advise entrepreneurs about three fundamentals when starting and running a business," she says. "Be knowledgeable and realistic about the type of business that you want to start, never spend what you don't have, and always invest any profits you make back into the business."

Michel says tough times are a reality for small business owners. Bouncing back from them takes determination, patience, and persistence.

Finally, perhaps, Perfect Image owner Ira Jackson Jr. offers the most glamorous and evocative image of entrepreneurship. Jackson says there is something romantic about business ownership, and that the success or failure of any relationship, business or personal, is based upon choices.

"Love is not an emotion but a decision." he says. "Once an entrepreneur gets past the emotional rush of owning a business and realizes that despite whatever heartache or setback he and the business may experience, it's his choice about how to rectify the matter, move forward, and become stronger and wiser."