There was a Gary Larson single panel cartoon several years ago that is very appropriate to this year.

There are two guys sitting in a small boat and enjoying themselves as they are fishing on a lake. In the distance you see the mushroom cloud from a nuclear explosion.

One of the fishermen says to the other, "Know what this means, Norm? It means screw the size restrictions and no limits!"

There are 54 days left before Christmas. There are no rules for what you do and don't do this holiday season. There is no black Friday and the holiday season begins today.

Surely, you are not going to do what you have always done. This is such a wonderful opportunity to try so many different things. Think of what you can learn from this year that can be applied to future years!

What if you were to offer private shopping hours to customers? How about having parties for shoppers that will benefit some local non-profit group?

This summer on Small Business Conversations we had a big audience as guest Ron Friedman told how to use gift cards as a way to increase the average ticket, increase repeat customers, and get existing customers to give the gift cards to others so as to earn new customers.

You can listen to a replay of that program by clicking on "Ron Friedman" above.

Bottom line; almost every business has taken a beating during the past eight months. All businesses have faced challenges to the way they do business. It is time for that to stop and time for improvement to begin.

Do you have a feeling about your community? Do you sense a pent up demand by your customers to celebrate the holidays?

Take a look at your checking account and your accounts payable for the next 90 days. Are you in a good cash position?

Contact your vendors looking for closeout deals on merchandise. If you have merchandise that through the past eight months you have not moved, instead of just marking it down to get rid of it, the purchase of closeout inventory from vendors for the holidays will allow you to increase your margins.

Your business will look a lot better than the competition that is looking like a clearance sale.

Do not waste this opportunity to learn as well as show your business is adaptive to the the changing landscape.

It does not matter what YOU like. It is all about the customer and what they like and do. They spend time every day on social media, then why isn't your business there for them to see?

Sommer does any excellent job of showing how to develop your social media program. You will surely enjoy the hour we have with her. Watch your email for the invitation to join us on a Thursday evening later this month.

So, the quote we gave in the title belongs to Jack Buck, the long time St. Louis Cardinals radio and television announcer.

What if this week you were to decide to do something with the "no rules" business atmosphere we are currently experiencing. With all the pressure on business owners, we can surely understand the person who says they don't have any creative thoughts.

How about showing your employees some examples of what other businesses are doing? Invite your employees to come up with some wild idea of what your business can do differently for the Christmas selling season.

To show that good ideas need follow up, have the employee participate in carrying out whatever idea they share.

Of course a good idea deserves a good reward. And when employees are recognized and rewarded for their efforts, they work even harder.