Beat the 2008 Recession - A Blueprint For Business Survival Review

I am as fascinated with the current global recession as the next guy, and ok yes I admit it, I do have a certain penchant for self-help books, especially if they promise to provide the answers needed to help managers and businesses everywhere survive this current economic downturn and beat the 2008 recession. With this in mind I recently picked up a copy of the new self help book valiantly named Beat the 2008 Recession: A Blueprint for Business Survival by Nicholas Bate. And while some of these guides actually do in fact deliver some genuinely valuable advice, in my opinion Beat the 2008 Recession: A Blueprint for Business Survival, falls a bit short of the mark.While I really do not like to pooh pooh anybodies genuine attempt to help others through a crisis, which in fairness this probably is. I equally don't enjoy being mislead by authoritative titles and grand statements such as "the best of current thinking on how to survive - and with care, thrive - in the impending gl
obal economic downturn", "Beat the 2008 Recession", and then be bombarded by cliché after cliché thinly disguised as advice such as "be the best version of you"; "get sleep . . . get exercise . . . keep hydrated . . ."; "think expect and create fun" and "look after what is your greatest asset by far in this recession: your brain", none of which will help me and my business beat the 2008 recession.With a title that includes Beat the 2008 Recession I was expecting so much more. But the author, who is the author of a number of other notable self help books, and it has to be said, a big fan of the obvious, recommends (presumably to beat the 2008 recession) business owners should "ask the right sort of questions at the right time"; "create a strategic plan"; "create a brilliantly simple and basic website" as well as reinventing their businesses. (needless to say, he offers no advice as to how a "brilliantly simple" website might be developed).Losing the run of himse
lf at one point Mr. Bate also imparts the following knob of wisdom when taking steps to ensure that the office is a fun place "Fun is a stand-up spot at the monthly meeting", he asserts. And goes further to recommend that employers hold onto a great joke or anecdote for a company meeting, so you can "let them leave feeling really good". What exactly has that go to do with how to beat the 2008 recession?Ok so there are the odd bits of information that may help some executives reassess the strategic priorities for their businesses in a vague attempt to beat the 2008 recession. But these are not clearly in focus as would be implied in the title Beat the 2008 Recession and his advice adds nothing new "A recession means that attention to your lifeblood - cash - and an eye on the ultimate goal - profit - cannot be half-hearted. Focus on getting cash in, stopping money wastage and building profitability. That way not only will you survive, you will also thrive," he says.By the end
of the book (and I did read to the end as you can probably tell by the tone of this review) Mr. Bate imparts this parting gem of information:"So now you can see why you can relax - you are ahead of the game. You are at an extreme of the bell curve. You know what you are trying to do. You are in control. You have plans and you can and are getting the support of those you need. Get back to work. Get back to life. Relax. It'll all be ok."If we take a quick flip back to the start of this book Bate asserts that "there is absolutely no padding, waffle or theory", I just wonder if he was writing the preface for the right book.

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