In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand With Matt Lyles podcast I talk with John Meese, author of Survive and Thrive: How to Build a Profitable Business in Any Economy (Including This One)!Let’s face it. If you’re a small business owner, statistics are not on your side:20% of small businesses fail within their first year50% of all businesses don't last five yearsOnly 33% of all businesses last 10 years or more And that’s in average economies, without a pandemic. Last year, and this year, have made small business ownership much, much worse. In 2020, over 100,000 businesses permanently closed. This year, in 2021, roughly 9 million businesses say they’re afraid they won’t survive through the rest of the year without additional government assistance. No matter how you look at it, no matter what economy you’re in, business ownership is a struggle. Beyond just your expertise, you have to know how - and put into place - those practices and systems that will not only ensure your business survives, but also ensure it thrives. Because if you’re a business owner, I’m sure you didn’t create your business just to simply survive.And that’s why I’m happy to talk with John Meese this week. John’s the CEO of CoWork Inc. He’s the former dean of Platform University. He’s the host of the Thrive School podcast. And he’s the author of the recent #1 bestseller Survive and Thrive: How to Build a Profitable Business in Any Economy (Including This One). John and I talk about how the global pandemic effected - and continues to effect - our economy and small business owners, and we discuss the key plan business owners can use for building (or re-building) a business with legs that will last for the long haul - even in the next economy-impacting event. No matter what industry you’re in, no matter what size your business is, these are the practices that you need to instill to ensure your business not only survives, but thrives  - regardless of the economy. RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODEJohn's book: Survive and ThriveJohn's site John's podcast: Thrive School With John Meese