Many business owners surveying the worsening economic fallout from the recession feel that they too will have no option but to join the hundreds of companies that are cutting costs and laying people off.

The Government can do very little that will impact the vast majority of SMEs in the short term, and many entrepreneurs are reacting to this lack of clear action and leadership by taking the path of least resistance.

Any fool can be busy. Just as it takes no special talent to run around like a headless chicken, it takes no special talent to be consumed by other people's deadlines.

I have no problem showing up for appointments that have been arranged with others. If I say I will be there, then 99% of the time I will indeed be present. Occasionally I will be let down by my own planning or technology or traffic; but those are rare instances and I cringe with embarrassment at the very recollection of such occasions.

Any fool can be busy. Just as it takes no special talent to run around like a headless chicken, it takes no special talent to be consumed by other people's deadlines.

I have no problem showing up for appointments that have been arranged with others. If I say I will be there, then 99% of the time I will indeed be present. Occasionally I will be let down by my own planning or technology or traffic; but those are rare instances and I cringe with embarrassment at the very recollection of such occasions.

Surely any small business owner who spends enough time twittering, blogging, Facebooking, and texting while being LinkedIn should have no trouble generating new business?

Not so. In fact one effect of the increasing popularity of virtual networking is that there is arguably a premium value on meeting someone in person.

Add in the fact that there are fewer easily found business opportunities in the current economic climate and the result is that now more and more of us are getting out there and networking.

Surely any small business owner who spends enough time twittering, blogging, Facebooking, and texting while being LinkedIn should have no trouble generating new business?

Not so. In fact one effect of the increasing popularity of virtual networking is that there is arguably a premium value on meeting someone in person.

Add in the fact that there are fewer easily found business opportunities in the current economic climate and the result is that now more and more of us are getting out there and networking.

Surely any small business owner who spends enough time twittering, blogging, Facebooking, and texting while being LinkedIn should have no trouble generating new business?

Not so. In fact one effect of the increasing popularity of virtual networking is that there is arguably a premium value on meeting someone in person.

Add in the fact that there are fewer easily found business opportunities in the current economic climate and the result is that now more and more of us are getting out there and networking.

In speaking to a lot of people over the last couple of weeks, I'm noticing a paralysis setting in, and quite a bad one at that. A paralysis in the sense of not knowing what to do, or a feeling of well I'm doing everything but I'm not getting anywhere.

However when I start to ask a few pointed questions, the 'everything' seems to melt away fairly quickly.

In speaking to a lot of people over the last couple of weeks, I'm noticing a paralysis setting in, and quite a bad one at that. A paralysis in the sense of not knowing what to do, or a feeling of well I'm doing everything but I'm not getting anywhere.

However when I start to ask a few pointed questions, the 'everything' seems to melt away fairly quickly.

In speaking to a lot of people over the last couple of weeks, I'm noticing a paralysis setting in, and quite a bad one at that. A paralysis in the sense of not knowing what to do, or a feeling of well I'm doing everything but I'm not getting anywhere.

However when I start to ask a few pointed questions, the 'everything' seems to melt away fairly quickly.

WARREN Buffett recently seized the opportunity to invest in Goldman Sachs and net a $783 million paper profit. Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary is plotting to buy oil when he thinks the price can't fall any further and is busy making plans to launch a low fares transatlantic airline.

As a business owner in these uncertain economic times, how you manage your business and having the right mindset - like Buffett and O'Leary - to seize any opportunities and head off the threats you encounter will dictate how well you power through the recession.