Pay attention and be mindful of how you get your information. As our grandparents have said, “Don’t believe everything that you hear, and half of what you see.” With this simple, yet straight forward admonishment, I want to delve this week into watching more than the numbers with your business. My daughter has been studying about atoms at school and it can lend us a lesson. That big solid paperweight sitting on your desk turns out to be made of billions of atoms. According to Micotrends, this is the ultimate way to conceptualize the true micro trend. It reminds us to not miss the tree, because of the forest.
Here is an example. When President Clinton was elected into office, it was the general theme that “It’s the Economy, Stupid!” The basic idea was that the economy was horrible, and there were no new jobs being created. Once November statistics from 1992 came out, the period showed actual growth. Attitudes prior to the election had been stirred to be quite negative in a time of actual growth. The public was sold on the idea of doom and gloom based on “the forest has a problem” message when in fact their own personal tree was probably not doing so badly.
I bring this fine, but significant point out as we begin to emerge from the recession. The reminder is to check your attitude. At risk of sounding like a bad scene from “The Office”: Attitude is Amplitude. Cliché, but true. The challenge is to collect your information from multiple sources to include your own instincts as you move into 2010.
According to Robert Guest writing for the Economist, we are indeed emerging from the recession, and many companies will do so leaner and stronger. Households will emerge leaner as well. Not surprisingly, consumption patterns are predicted to continue to change in response to the slimmer side of buying patterns. Though the United States will continue as the biggest economy, over-stretched American consumers will no longer drive the world economy as before. Expansion bent markets will continue to look to China, Brazil and India for growth. This will push trade issues directly to the front, and the risk of a protectionist sentiment may arise. We have seen governments work together to contain the global financial crisis, but will they do so when it comes to trade? We should take a moment to think about the impact of this if China decides to stop lending us money. Hmm… Compound on this the harbinger of rising taxes as a method to ease budget deficits and the ultimate affect on not just corporations but business owners, and you can perhaps agree that now is a time to REALLY pay attention.
We have discussed in previous articles here that there is a growing distrust of government and big corporations. Think about the impact on the bottom-line when consumers retract further from spending due to a “pass through” tax that makes its way from the corporation to the consumer in the form of price increases. This should certainly stop us and make us think as it creates serious concern of back sliding into recession again with an economy that looks like a “W” instead of a “U”.
The challenge is to stay informed and to take control of the controllable. One big controllable is in fact your attitude as mentioned above. Would Vietnam please come to the front of the class? Again, Micro trends research shows us that much of the success of Vietnam in recent years is due to their abject optimism. Gallup World surveys show that 9 out of 10 Vietnamese Citizens state that this year will be better than the last. (Greece was the most pessimistic, edging out Iraq.) We would be wise to recognize the distinct differences between Capitalism and Democracy as presented by Vietnam. According to author Mark Penn in Micro trends, doi moi is the secret. Doi Moi is a series of market based reforms designed to stimulate the Vietnamese economy. Their constitution (Yes! They too have a constitution!) was amended to guarantee equal treatment for state and private companies, and eliminate bureaucracy. While all is not perfect in a country that we still view as an “Authoritarian” state, that rate of economic progress is still stunning in a country that has been so very war torn, and speaks to the serious entrepreneurial force that has brought it to this path. A quick look in our own towns of Fultondale and Gardendale will give us strong examples of the burgeoning nail shops that our Vietnamese friends own, and manage.
Take some time this week to seek out information as it pertains to your National, State AND local political decisions. It will impact your business sooner or later, so jump in there now and get involved.
And remember, take care of your customers, or someone else will.
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