Fountain of Youth for Your Business!
If I were to tell you that American businesses have their best days behind them and our future is beyond our control, a number of individuals would agree and they could give examples that were logical and believable. This could be our fault by ignoring meaningful indications and refusing to acknowledge the significance of threats and their repercussions. I know that some of the problems that small businesses are experiencing are due to extenuating circumstances and I also know that we are afraid, that these influences could destroy our businesses and even our status as an individual. Analyzing our situations and the plausible solutions are the key to finding solutions and establishing ourselves as leaders in our businesses and our community.
The first step is to determine how we arrived at this situation and what factors are influencing this scenario. Things were going great and the strong economy seemed as if it would go on forever. Decisions were made that based our future expectations by this factor and we had it somewhat easy. Assessments based on capitalization rates were becoming more important than cultural and value-based decisions. Greed became a sovereign force and our principles eroded with each decision in this direction. Instead of concentrating on processes and better ways to compete, we allowed for substandard alternatives and in some cases slave labor in foreign markets. However, this is not the travesty that had put us in this position, it is our failure to identify better ways to innovate, improve our businesses and our people at the same time. We are a country with 5, about to be 6 generations working at the same time. We must come to realize that there is another option available to the people of America and we have the ability to have a prosperous life, without depending on foreign commodities. We have to concentrate on our resources and our people to improve our outlook and we have to do this in the most expedient way. Here are some ideas that will give us some food for thought, increase our discussions and deliver improved outcomes.
One key item that we need to discuss is our values and why we are more alike than different. We can come together and share ideas that are solutions instead of complaining. Amalgamation advantages are developed by establishing new processes and commodities through localizing resources and forming stable relationships that share principles and beliefs.
Increasing streams of income that use technology and utilize diversified systems for crisis events are critical to minimize impact and bolster future expectations. This can be accomplished by identifying organizations, individual business opportunities and digital identities, that help us establish exactly who we are and what we do.
We need to incorporate outside professionals to identify better supply lines and diversify our income streams to reduced risk and find improved solutions. If we only make decisions from a single perspective, we are minimizing our scope of solutions and reducing desirable outcomes. Each income stream increases business stability, which increases our community and our country’s stability as well. These opportunities also diminish the risks associated with foreign influences and disruptions in our supply chains and products.
Education and experience also need join forces to find successful solutions with real world applications. Developing from theory alone is theoretical suicide. Developing from skill sets alone lack strategy and diminish potential and efficiency
Finally, we need to communicate better, which includes our newer generations and all classes of individuals. This is our businesses fountain of youth. Once again, if you approach problems from only one point of view, you limit your options and the ability to solve problems effectively. Our generations have become rivals instead of assets and this has to change.
Our older generations provide experience, concepts and wisdom that need to be shared. Our younger generations bring new understandings and skills that have advantages in the current business environment. Instead of insulting comments or stereotypical dismissals, we must concentrate on comprehensive acknowledgement of the skills and knowledge that all of us bring to the table. Rival countries are actually dividing us by providing opportunities that we don’t have available in our own business communities. When we work against our own interests and values, we will always lose. So, lets identify ways that we can move forward and allow our fountain of youth to transform us into a prosperous and appreciative nation for today and tomorrow. Everything is about to be different, so let’s make this a positive opportunity to change for the better.
Joe Copp
