Every time the market hiccups, every time the industry cycle dips, I hear the same tired chorus: “The market is down. Customers aren’t buying. What can we do? We just have to wait it out.”

Nonsense. The market doesn’t owe you a thing. Never has, never will.

If you think that by showing up, opening your doors, and waiting for the economy to smile kindly upon you that success will follow, you are in the wrong business. Worse yet, you’re living in the wrong mindset. The truth—and this is the part people don’t want to hear—is that winners find business in down cycles. Losers blame the economy.

The Myth of the Bad Market: Here’s the dirty little secret: there’s always someone making money. Always. Even in the worst downturns, somebody is out there hustling, landing orders, building relationships, and growing while the rest of the crowd sits around swapping doom-and-gloom stories.

Remember 2008? Half the industry was crying that no one was buying. Yet a handful of companies doubled down. They called every customer, knocked on every door, pitched every prospect. And guess what? When the market bounced back, those companies weren’t scrambling to catch up—they were miles ahead.

The same applies right now. If your first instinct when things tighten up is to pull back, conserve energy, and complain about “conditions,” you’ve already lost. Business doesn’t reward.

The Economy Is Just an Excuse. The economy is not your problem. Your problem is whether or not you’re willing to do the work.

I talk to salespeople all the time who tell me: “Customers just aren’t buying.” Really? Funny, because your competitor just took an order from one of those same customers. Someone else got the business you said didn’t exist. Someone else made the calls you didn’t make. Someone else followed up, sent the quote, booked the visit, and showed up at the right time.

Here’s the truth—hustle beats headwinds every single time.

If you’re in sales (and let’s be honest, every business leader is in sales), you cannot afford to wait for perfect conditions. There is no such thing. Conditions are always imperfect. The difference is whether you keep moving forward or sit frozen, clutching your excuses like a comfort blanket.

Customers have an uncanny ability to sniff out the players from the posers. When things are tough, they notice who keeps showing up and who disappears.

Think about it: when the economy dips, when budgets tighten, customers are nervous. They don’t just want suppliers—they want partners they can trust. And trust is built through presence.

If you’re there, calling, visiting, helping, offering ideas—if you’re the one who refuses to vanish—you’re remembered. Customers reward the companies who show up, not those who sulk.

Let me give you a concrete example. A client of mine had two suppliers in the same city. One of them went silent when orders slowed down. They figured, “Why bother calling? Nobody’s buying anyway.” The other supplier doubled their customer visits. They offered free design reviews, shared cost-saving suggestions, and asked questions that mattered. When the dust cleared, guess which supplier got the lion’s share of business? The one who stayed present. Common sense, right? Yet too many companies miss it.

I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it: business is simple. Not easy—but simple. If you want to win, you have to outwork the competition. Period.

That means more calls, more visits, more quotes, more follow-ups. It means getting off your rear end and doing the things others won’t. It means picking up the phone when you’d rather check email. It means knocking on doors when everyone else is whining about gas prices or tariffs or interest rates.

You want orders? Then earn them. You want loyalty? Then deserve it.

Stop expecting sympathy. Stop waiting for the economy to turn into your personal windfall. Shut up, get out there, and sell.

Markets rise and fall. That’s the cycle. But hustle—that’s the constant.

Every salesperson worth their salt knows the real competition isn’t the other supplier. It’s the inertia inside your own company. It’s the excuses that creep in during tough times. It’s the voice in your head whispering, “It’s not worth the effort, no one’s buying.”

Ignore that voice. Outwork it. Outwork everyone.

You can’t control the market. You can’t control interest rates, global politics, or raw material costs. But you can control how hard you work, how often you reach out, how creatively you approach customers, how determined you are to uncover the hidden opportunities that others overlook.

And those hidden opportunities? They’re always there. Every down cycle creates openings—new needs, new gaps, new pains that only the hustlers uncover.

The Common Sense Bottom Line

Let me boil this down into the kind of advice you can tattoo on your forehead if that’s what it takes to remember:

• The market doesn’t owe you anything. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.
• Winners find business in down cycles. Losers find excuses.
• Hustle always beats headwinds. Always.
• Customers reward the ones who show up. They forget the ones who don’t.
• Common sense: stop whining. Get out there. Sell.

That’s it. That’s the playbook.

You can either waste another quarter complaining about the market, or you can get off your chair and outwork everyone else. The choice is yours. But don’t tell me the market is your problem. The market doesn’t care. It never did. And that’s exactly why you have to. It’s only common sense