Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

A lovely thought, but not very practical.  A large portion of manufacturers are already `losing their shirts` because of too much inventory and not enough buyers.  Selling more won`t happen when the majority of us are taking a hard and fast look at what we REALLY need and trying to get by on what we already have on hand.  Production needs to equal demand and the first component of a down-sized economy is lack of demand, therefore reducing the need for production.

A better scenario would be to place tighter controls on our spending i.e. going back to our pre-WWII system of not buying the `goodies` if you don`t have the money to pay for it.  There is a huge difference between `need` and `want` and way too many of us keep crossing the line.


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Lily E. Chambers CPS, CQU
"Why hire a mere mortal when you have access to a Goddess"
www.virtualofficegoddess.com

Okay, consider that cutting and cutting and cutting eventually leads to zero. Cutting spending (operations) works when there`s a lot of waste and slack. The "lean and mean" of the 1980s reworked modern business to the point of much better efficiency.

Now consider things like peanut butter and jelly. Smucker`s already had a major part of the two markets. Then they came up with the idea of combining the jelly in the peanut butter to make a PB&J all in one step. That`s a new product, and it consolidates existing products, and opens a new market.

Chrysler and GM got into trouble by always cutting, cutting, cutting. But Honda and Toyota were developing new products.

Individually, we certainly can cut our spending and become more efficient in our shopping. And that`s where this topic comes into play. It appears as if getting cheaper products will save money. Until you have to buy more of the same item, or replace those that fall apart.

And so we all look at how to make more or extra money. It might be online selling, building a small business, monetizing hobbies, or garage sales. In some way, we each understand that you can only cut so much. After that, your lifestyle begins to decay, and eventually you`re out on the streets. Corporations pretty much work the same way.

WWII was a choice. The world decided on the war, and Americans chose to re-allocate their money, cutting back and sacrificing personally in order to provide more money for the war effort.

This economic collapse was created by miserable and greedy bankers. They pushed this onto us, and now we have to deal with it. But we also created it by using credit to spend more than we have, each on an individual basis. We stopped producing, and switched to an information and service economy. Cutting back won`t work.

The answer is to increase productivity again. Start creating and manufacturing new products.

I buy a particular brand of work boot for about $33.00.  They last an average of two years.  I made the mistake once of buying a different brand of boot, and far more expensive boot.  I went with the more expensive boot because I thought it would be better quality.  WRONG!  The more expensive boot fell apart in six months.

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The older we get, the more excuses we make for not chasing after our dreams. But truth is, goals are attainable at any age.

Nevada,

That`s a valid observation as well. We have many "designer" products that aren`t worth squat. It`s only the name, and the look that counts. We also have products that simply cost more for no apparent reason.

It`s why all of us are going to have to start paying closer attention to details, quality, workmanship, and consumer peer-reviews. There already are numerous online sites where people give reviews of just about everything. The more the merrier, I think.

I will go with quality products than cheap ones. Especially for skin care products.

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Budget calculator





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I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order

Stella,
That`s another problem people haven`t yet really come to terms with; that they can actually do real harm by going cheap. Imagine saving a few bucks on mountain-climbing rope, when your life depends on the strength of that rope!

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