Warren Buffett famously said, “Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.” And you’d love to be that kind of long-term thinker, willing to invest in the future when others are running for cover. Of course, Buffett has his $60 billion fortune to cushion the risks associated with his maverick tendencies. You, on the other hand, are saddled with a shortage of cash and a coterie of colleagues who believe the right response to a slow economy is to hunker down, slash costs to the bone, and wait for the storm to pass.

What’s a frustrated would-be business-grower to do?

You can aim for growth in a sluggish economy. In fact, now is the perfect time to do so because your competitors are probably still distracted by the problems brought on by said economy. But if you’re trying to grow your business-to-business company using old, costly, inefficient methods, you’re doomed to fail. You don’t have to go that route. You’ve probably tightened up other areas of your operation since the economy went south—and you can do the same with your growth efforts.

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