Page 188 - James Caan - The Real Deal

The Real Deal

‘The best advice I can give you is just to ride it out. Don’t expect
a lot, don’t expect a great year, batten down the hatches, cut your
costs as much as you can and just ride it out.’
Although his conclusion was pretty downbeat I actually put the
phone down feeling more positive than I had for months. For the
first time in ages I had some certainty: I knew what I was going to
do, I had some purpose again and I knew that I was going to make
Alexander Mann work because there was no alternative.
Knowing that there weren’t any greener pastures made me look
hard at Alexander Mann. I was now completely focused on
surviving the recession and getting the company in the best shape
it could be in so that when things started to pick up, as they were
bound to do one day, we would be perfectly positioned to take off
again. I had gone from being really quite depressed to being fairly
optimistic: I was beginning to understand that I do well when I’ve
got something to prove.
It’s amazing how changing your state of mind can change
everything else, and everybody in the office knew the minute I
walked through the door that Monday morning that something
had happened. I was in early, I had a smile on my face, and all
because I had accepted the situation I was in. I wasn’t going to
fight it, or torture everyone with ‘Why did it have to happen to
me?’ sob stories. I was going to lay the groundwork for future
success.
I called everyone together and levelled with them. And by now
‘them’ was only eleven people. One of the benefits of paying
people on commission is that if they can’t earn the commission
they generally leave for a job that pays more basic. At least that
meant my overheads had dropped significantly, and that was a
saving grace, as was the fact that I had ignored my accountant’s
advice to rent more expensive offices.
‘Look, it’s tough, and it’s going to be tough for a while. None
of us is going to be making much money for the next few months,

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