Running your own business as an entrepreneur can be the thing that really forces you to sharpen your sword and truly define your purpose and commitment to greatness. After starting my first business, going through months of failure and then finally figuring out a formula that started getting me customers and results — I was on track and very eager to take my company to the next level.

No matter what type of business you’re in, now is the moment to expand and take the market share by forging your own path, away from what’s “reasonable” or “popular.”

Here are the most important steps to expand your company:

1. Give it all you’ve got.

The amount of effort now required is and will continue to be far greater to get things done, so prepare your team and train them to take more action and be more persistent.

2. Focus on the solutions instead of the problems.

The problems are the opportunities if you approach them that way. Instead of shying away from problems, you should take the time to identify them, solve them, and learn from them for any similar future issues that may arise.

3. Adapt to the new changes.

In this new economy, old strategies won’t work. ‘Business-unusual’ will be the usual for some time to come. You must adapt to these new challenges.

4. Do what is not common practice.

Look at what all of your competitors are doing and then do the exact opposite. The popular thing isn’t always the right thing to do.

5. Don’t drop prices.

If you do the math, less volume at a lower price would be terrible for your company. Instead, take this time to train your team on how to build value instead of focusing on price.

6. Be unreasonable!

Now is not the time to be reasonable. You must operate without “proper” logic influencing every move you make. You probably wouldn’t even want to show up for work right now if you tried making sense of the current state of things. Let your competitors be “reasonable” and “logical” while you focus on dominating the market.

7. Keep training.

Now more than ever you and your people have to know how to operate, function and persist. This is the moment to train and prepare for when the good times return. To sell successfully and penetrate the marketplace in this economy will require positive attitudes, great persistence and an unbridled determination. Training more than any other investment will put your organization’s attention on what they can do instead of can’t do.

8. Avoid the negative.

Avoid people who focus solely on the negative. The media always runs rampant with bad news but especially at this moment. At the same time, people around you tend to pass on that negativity like a cold. Avoid it at all costs.

Don’t be like your competitors who are probably weak, unprepared and unwilling to take the necessary steps to win over the customers. Don’t contract – EXPAND! The clichéd phrase rings true, “With great risks come great rewards.”

Be great.