A glass half empty can quickly become a glass half full

Reading the headlines each morning can be enough for even the biggest optimist in the World to suddenly start referring to their glass as half empty, apposed to half full. If you buy into the daily press, petrol prices are currently on a par with the GDP of New Zealand, house prices are falling faster than a Lib Dem candidate's voting numbers and if you have any money in your possession at all, you're doing rather well...but you should probably hide it under the bed and not tell the tax man where it is.

But for business to fall into this negative stance is a very dangerous approach. Like in football, you can go defensive and play for a draw, but that doesn't win you titles. As Charlie Sheen will tell you, it's all about the WINNING. Investing in success is not throwing away money, or creating another overhead; it is, funnily enough, investing in success.

This is why companies have to be proactive. They have to find measures to solve problems, to get on the front foot and actively search out new business. It's too weak an argument to not make a move because you fear the expense that comes with it. If there is a genuine opportunity to improve, and grow, then it has to be taken.

I say this merely because I've recently heard a few people claim that in the current climate, it is a dangerous idea to create overheads on new, innovative online strategies. But if you can see real ROI then what is stopping you? Go on the attack, deploy offensive strategies, and before long you won't be seeing the glass half empty, in fact, it'll probably be overflowing.