The appearance Barrack Obama had on Jay Leno impressed me. He said we need to do more work on education, energy, and health care. It is a point well taken by me as my business shifts. Those three areas of our economy have stagnated for decades while we rely on them more.
I started this blog to talk about buying and selling properties. It has an under current of home renovation. My goal was to consult. My thinking was that people would want to have a forum about their homes. In two very short years that business idea went from hot topic to declining home prices with no money to do repairs let alone remodel.
With the help of an on line business networking site I saw that many people have started in business for themselves. Being in business is far different from what we learn in school. Some of the new business people worked in a corporate structure where money was no object. There has been some resistance to the down and dirty grit of small business.
Other people who I am talking with are slow to find that the world of Real Estate will never go back to normal, for them. Real Estate has had it’s ups and downs, but nothing like what we have seen lately. In that way the Real Estate Industry is like education, energy, and health care. It is an industry that has been doing business the same way for decades.
The computer has changed things but most of our core business still operates the same. We’ve added tools. Innovation seems to stop at the monitor screen. The tools are more sophisticated yet we try to make them work according to a tired business plan. Real Estate is a good example.
Real Estate agents, now web sites, give a potential buyer a list of properties, the buyer picks one, and the agent tells them what they want to hear. Sellers get a whole set of great pictures to put on line, stage the house for showings, but they need to list the property at a price that is below market value to make it a hot deal. The tools change, but the technique is the same.
There are a lot of examples that I could use, but the point is business needs innovation for future development. Connecting the consumer with products like Amazon did was a huge step forward. I was against it at the beginning because the things I ordered were crap for a full retail price. Nordstrom’s then started selling crap at a higher price. In the end it made more sense to just shop on line and take your chances.
We look at profits as a given right to having a business. We have heard less about business failure and more about profit potential. There are a thousand slick business formulas for sale. If you want you can buy a franchise as an investment. Everything you need to know is there is a package like assembling a bicycle.
The stock market made corporations invincible. People day traded, hedge funds plopped down billions of dollars, and when the profits came rolling in venture capital funds threw money at what looked good. How fancy is your website? Do you have all the charts and graphs to prove you make money? By golly, if you do there was a very willing public to throw money your way.
Today people are watching their money. There are questions about some very major American Institutions. My thinking is that if you want to stay in business you will need to produce that better mouse trap. Staying ahead of the curve is more than a catch phrase. Your product and service will need to match the scrutiny of a skeptical consumer.
I want this to be as generic as possible, but charter schools are a great example. Having school age children was an eye opener for me. Both public and private schools are run down, have tired teachers, there is a lack of motivation in students, and it all stays the same year after year. I saw a charter school profiled and it made good financial sense that for the same money, with less bureaucracy, students and teachers could have an adventure in learning.
In that regard I think small business will have to be the innovators. Small business will also have to fund themselves in this process. The days of hoping to sell your innovation to the highest bidder are over. As much as corporate America needs the next big idea they will be less willing to gamble. Corporations answer to stock holders. Stock holders want a sure thing even though they pretend to be risk takers.
So fixer fixer will take on a new direction. I have been in business my entire life. Many of the things written here on this blog are about my businesses. It’s all a matter of making money. some of the best business owners are confused by today’s market place. There is a lot of fear.
Maybe if we share some ideas on promoting business, management style, and ideas for future business needs, we can get rid of some of the fear.
