The 5 Economic Survival Skills You Must Have in 2015

 
If there is anything to deduce from the Ping-Pong of fiery words between the coordinating minister of the economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the former CBN governor, Charles Soludo these past weeks, it is that the Nigerian economy is not looking very pretty at the moment.
Our foreign reserves have taken a hard hit, power generation has nose-dived, oil prices are crashing, and the dollar is exchanging at an all-time high of N215 in the black market. True story! Throw in the staggering and increasing unemployment figures, the BH unrest in the north, the rising political tension ahead of the election, and there are real reasons to be worried.
2015 may appear gloomy for many businesses and careers but it can be super-bright for you if you sharpen these 5 skills for surviving the economic downturn.

1. Networking Skills

Now is the time to form strong alliances. New administrations, either at federal, state, or local government levels will most likely make changes to some existing policies. Old bonds may be severed, fresh alliances will be formed, and new windows of opportunities will open up if you know where to look. How to survive the economic downturn? Continue to network strategically while watching out for portals of opportunity that may open up.

2. Business Skills

The truth is, businesses are suffering already and if this tarries for a long time, many businesses may go bankrupt. Now is the time to consider going lean if you own a business, try to offset overhead costs, train your staff, and review existing strategies if surviving the economic downturn is important to you.

3. Planning Skills

Hatch a Plan F. Don’t even stop at plan C. In 2015, your planning skill needs to be at ninja level. In other words, you should strive to be a master planner, you should envisage different outcomes and plan accordingly.
As part of your plans, you should consider several alternative sources of income that are recession-resilient while also steering clear of debts. How to survive the economic downturn is to start looking beyond your savings account.

4. Personal Finance Skills

Cut spendings on luxury goods. Carefully evaluate the costs and benefits of every purchase. Take your eyes off the gold jewelries, Prada bags, and expensive restaurants. Surviving the economic downturn means you should purchase only important commodities. Enjoy life but do so with financial wisdom.
This is the year you will need to learn a lot about how to invest your money; you cannot outsource the whole process this year. You will need to be extra-careful before you invest in shares, real-estate or any other financial instruments, even the experts don’t know what is coming yet. So before you invest your savings make sure you listen to as much advice as you can find. Just be very careful.

5. Job-hunting Skills

If the state of things persists, an eventuality we will all have to accept will be the monumental loss of jobs meaning that there will be a scramble for the few jobs that will be up for grabs. This means to survive the economic downturn, sharpen your resume and have it on the ready, update your profile on LinkedIn and on Insidify.com add some new career-related skill that will differentiate you and prep up your interview skills. Be prepared!
What are your opinions on the above? Do you have any tip you want to share with us on surviving the economic downturn? Let us know in the comment section below.