Please understand we are not experiencing a cycle which will correct itself this year, next year, in five years or ten. We are experiencing systemic change. Our economy and way of doing business and our way of life will soon be radically different then what we have experienced in the past fifty years.

This is not mere opinion. While I believed this before I was recently exposed to a leading nationally known economist, Chris Martenson, who has graphically explained exactly why this is true. (I have attached the link for this mans video presentation, view it and decide for yourself,  www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse).

We can no longer ignore the symptoms, the signs, the indicators, as they are too real and happening before our eyes today. Its time to act.

We are confronting a challenging moment as everything we hold to be true and base our business reality upon will soon be changed. In some cases dramatically, in others completely, and in some instances only moderately.

But change is what we are facing and we had best get prepared, today.

Unfortunately business owners, tend to be slow to make changes. Wanting to wait and see what will happen, preferring to be in the middle of the pack, certainly not leading and hopefully not at the end.

This attitude could be catastrophic as this time we must all begin to make adjustments as soon as possible as adjustments take time and if we wait too long the adjustments could be made too late to help us to survive.

No, the world is not coming to an end, just the way we currently do business and live.

Of course the ensuing changes will effect each business differently and our job is to figure out what the effects of the changes to come will be on our particular business and then to make the necessary adjustments. However there are some common denominators and some appropriate planning we all can, should and must be doing today to prepare us for what is surely to come.

Simply stated the long term effect of a combination of clearly identified factors will propel us to accept the contention that change is in the air.

1. The cost of fuel is skyrocketing with little likelihood for a reduction in the next ten years and may cost more as the years go on.This effects transportation, heating fuel, energy, and how our factories are run.

2. The cost of food is skyrocketing stressing fixed income budgets.

3. Housing is depressed and will remain so for years to come as we absorb the enormous inventory of unsold homes.

4. Foreclosures are also skyrocketing which will further depress the market for a long while to come.

5. Transportation be it  by planes, cars, or trucks is being devastated by high fuel costs which has a ripple effect throughout the entire economy.

6. The aging population and the enormous burden this will be putting on both the social welfare system as well as the living  and earning requirements of our aging population will cause huge changes in how we live, work and play.

7. The huge debt this country has  and is continuing to expand and the significant devaluation of the dollar will have an increasing negative effect on our economy.

8. The huge cost of war which we are engaged in on a long term basis has a disabling effect on our economy contrary to popular belief and historical records.

9.The breakdown of our infrastructure requiring a huge investment if not done will continue to erode and diminish our  economic effectiveness and stress our already stretched national budget.

10.The rich will get richer and everyone else will get poorer as the lines move further and further apart, and without a strong middle class our economy will be forced to absorb major changes.

11. The enormous debt load we are all carrying and its growth in difficult economic times will further speed up the need for change.

Taken all together there can be no question that we are in for huge long term changes.

So what can we do?

We all require a two pronged approach to assure ourselves long term viability:

Become more efficient and more profitable.

1. Now, today, look at our current business organizations and begin to sharpen them up, make them more efficient, organize them more carefully, cut out the unnecessary. Train, plan and review constantly. Track monitor and control daily. Make your organization, lean and mean and increase profitability while reducing debt immediately.

This requires  a top to bottom total review and upgrading of all business systems and putting in place the systems, budgets, monitoring and tracking systems and controls that are not being utilized that support high quality,  cost efficient, effective and highly productive operations, efficient and productive sales and marketing programs and timely, accurate, and supportive financial reporting systems. We can not be loose and sloppy going forward or we will pay a very high price for our existence.

Look into the future and make the changes required today to survive tomorrow.

2. As important review the changes discussed above and  ask yourself what the effect these changes will have on your business and what should you do to adjust going forward making your business paradigm more in tune with what the world will look like tomorrow, next year, in five years.

A new business plan must be considered and then executed. The old plan will not carry you through the changes we are confronting and will continue to face long into the future, we need to rethink our plan and make the necessary adjustments. The horse whip industry went bust when the auto was invented. Pay phones do not exist anymore and Polaroid, once an industry leader had to file for bankruptcy  all because of changing times. It has happened and it is happening…now

This will be happening on a much larger scale and across the board as our current and future changes are not a function of changing technology but of changing times, a much deeper and broader issue and one which will effect everyone and every business.

Failure to do adapt may be fatal.

Call me, I can help you achieve the adjustments that must be made, systematically and surely.

413-549-2966.