Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

It seems like every day things are just falling apart everywhere. Jobs are disappearing, entrepreneurs are holding back on their dreams...

Do you see a light in the end of this dark tunnel? 



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IsraelExporter.com - Marketing and Lead Generation for Israel's Leading Export Companies PiTag Media - PiTag Media uses online tools to provide increased value for start ups and large companies. Connect with me on LinkedIN

Entrepreneurs shouldn`t hold back at all, right now. This is only the initial effect of a major reality check. Having one`s own business is definitely a better option than depending on an employer, so even though it may appear difficult right now, it`ll be much harder to start a business later.

The next important event will be the financial disclosure time around March `09 as corporations and pension funds provide public accounting numbers. Following that will be the April tax deadline. The combination of dates will mandate public disclosures of numbers for revenues, profits, and balances.

Without even factoring in the new taxes governors are putting into place to meet constitutionally defined balanced budgets, it`s pretty clear that both private and public balance sheets are in major trouble. We just don`t yet know how much trouble. As the numbers come out, it`ll push the economy downward even more.

The light at the end of the tunnel depends on a very basic view of life. Do you believe it`s better to know the facts of reality and that others should also know those facts? Or should people be "sheltered" from those facts because they`re too disturbing?

Here is how I see it: What ever the reasons for this financial crisis are,  following the news on a daily basis one cannot ignore the amount of corporate executives that have been arrested for scams and what not, there seems to be unbelievable mad obsession for money.

Judaism teaches that wealth is a challenge. It is not a bad thing and the one who creates wealth is not evil..but its a challenge. The Talmud teaches us that when a man has one - he wants two and when he has two...mmm why not some more. This is the problem of our society and the culture that we live in. So many people reach the highest levels of wealth and success and yet its still not enough and they feel the need to do what it takes even at the expense of spending years in prison just to satisfy themselves for a moment or two.

In my humble opinion this is the main cause of this global financial crisis.

What can we learn from this crisis? Well, I think the main issue here is that each and every person needs to ask him or her self: What is my real reason for starting a business? Is it my obsession for money? Or am I trying to make this world a better place by bringing quality services and products to the marketplace? Obviously the money issue is a critical ingredient here but if your focus is only on the money - this actually may end up `blinding` you from seeing the real purpose in your business.

Over the weekend I was reading the newspapers. Now if you really want something that will destroy your weekend - by all means read the paper. Its really depressing! In any case I was reading an interview with this former CEO who was running a multi- million dollar company and when the markets started to crash a few weeks ago....so did his company. This CEO was talking about how when times were good before the crash - "the money was flowing in from every direction" ...and what did they do? They partied! and oh boy did they party. The company leadership would take this money and pish it out on parties....but no fear cause "the money was flowing in from every directions". This uncontrolled behavior ripped the guts out of his company.

Is there hope? Of course there is. There is hope when people will begin to understand that its honesty, business ethics, integrity, truth and social responsibility - That builds a business and a strong economy.

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IsraelExporter.com - Marketing and Lead Generation for Israel's Leading Export Companies PiTag Media - PiTag Media uses online tools to provide increased value for start ups and large companies. Connect with me on LinkedIN

Interestingly enough, I was listening to an interview show with Guy Kawasaki who`s gotten very involved with venture capital and entrepreneurs. In the course of the discussion, the question came up as to what`s the profile for an entrepreneur.

Nobody really can point to a particular thing or trait that makes someone an entrepreneur, but I thought Kawasaki had a great line. He said that above and beyond all else, the entrepreneur begins with the basic statement, "Hey, wouldn`t it be neat if.....!"

All great ideas begin with just that, someone thinking "How cool would that be!"

The second key aspect of an entrepreneur from Kawasaki`s perspective, dealing with thousands of proposals, is that it isn`t about the money. People who begin with the thought, "I want to make a lot of money, and I think I can do it this way..." generally don`t make it.

That`s not to say that after coming up with an inspiration you can`t also think of ways to make a lot of money from it. It`s rather to say that if your key motivation is making piles of money, you`re likely going to be disappointed.

This whole economic situation I think is a balancing point in history. For 100 years we`ve lived a particular way, and lots of people have questioned the underlying ethical values. For over 300 years we`ve had a near total split between two core philosophies (structuralism v. romanticism), also with many basic questions.

If you believe that life is organized in some fashion, and that the human race is evolving toward some kind of destination, then what we`re dealing with is fairly easy to understand. It`s the point where an adolescent moves out of the house and has to take responsibility for his or her own life.

Living at home under a general authority (parents and minor laws), people are mostly self-centered, they don`t plan much, and tend to think in short-term segments. Life is about partying, hedonism, and fun. It`s only when those kids move away from home and have to actually take care of real things that they begin to mature.

Humanity has been in a sort of extended adolescence for 1,000 years. As a group, we`re moving into the next step---young adult. That`s if you believe in some sort of organized design to things.

If you don`t, thinking instead that life is random and every generation is an isolated occurrence, then what we`re going through is inexplicable. It`s all just an accident, doesn`t mean anything, can`t be solved and wasn`t caused. Everyone has their own choice as to beliefs.

But for those who see life as a process, moving toward increased complexity and art, the key is to figure out those main factors in today`s conditions. One of them is lack of contextual awareness.

I don`t depend on newspapers for the real story on America.  Newspapers to often overlook positive events.  There are thousands of businesses for instance that haven`t failed.  There are areas in the country where the economy hasn`t tanked.  But, these stories aren`t news worthy.  So,  they don`t receive any news coverage. 

It`s like a book I read a long time ago called "The Man Who Walked Across America."  The author`s view of America came primarily from newspapers and news magazines.  The author became so disgusted with this country because of those stories, he decided to move to Canada.  An older gentleman who work at the university where the author went to school made a suggestion.  He suggested the author tour this country before leaving.  So, the author of the book walked across America.  What he found was an entirely different America than the news services had been presenting.  A better America.

Ok, I`m off my soap box now.



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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.

The problem I see is that we have these two divergent views. The one is that journalism and the "media" show a biased view of what`s actually happening. The other is that the reality of the country is more like Patrick is promoting.

Neither is true, but the real problem is how to find that truth. If we can`t count on the news, but we also know that anecdotal evidence isn`t entirely true, where`s the solution? In most cases, all we`re left with is logic.

I think we can look at macro trends, economic principles, and the mostly uncensored Web information system to get some sort of distilled sense of what`s going on. I also think we can use "harmonics."

By that I mean that an "economy" is made up of millions of individual people, buying and spending, hoping and dreaming. It`s a complex system, in other words, where each component acts independently yet comes together to form patterns as a whole.

It`s true that whole areas of America, along with entire fields of business are succeeding or staying healthy and we don`t hear much about them. But we do hear that they exist. Likewise, you can`t judge what "America" is thinking by listening to the callers calling in to talk shows. So you can`t see all of America by walking across the country.

But joining all these "inputs," I think we can say that the existing status quo is failing. What used to be normal is collapsing. To both sides of the norm, the extremes are converging. My take on it is that the middle class is being wiped out as a class, and will divide.

I`m supposing that about 80% of the historic middle class will move toward lower income, probably less than $50K-annual. Around 20% will move toward upper income, probably in the $200K+ range. However, we also will see a new class, proposed by various economists and political thinkers.

The political class will exist for a short period, replacing the economic middle class. We`ve been moving toward this type of bureaucracy for over a century, and I think we`ll see it come into existence. It won`t last, but will create some skewed concepts of economics.

In the extreme areas we have the ultra rich, the ultra poor, but also the anarchists of so-called entrepreneurs. I don`t know that venture capitalists will continue as they are currently, but I do think entrepreneurial startups will begin to flood the field. We`ll return to the period (c. 1850-1920) of inventors everywhere.

No sub-section of the economy can sustain itself entirely without the rest of the surrounding context. So it doesn`t matter that many businesses or fields of business currently are healthy. Without the surrounding strong infrastructure, they`ll be affected by the crashing world economy.

Just so, nothing lasts forever, particularly crises. I think we`ll see about a 10-year period of major upheaval, then something entirely new and different. What that will be I`m not clear on, yet, but it`ll probably involve a global unification of some sort.

I think that today little by little (and I really mean that!) people are beginning to understand the dangers of leading an uncontrolled shopping/spending life. We were told to live the American dream...its just another way of saying.... give me your credit card. Companies, start-ups and young entrepreneurs go on shopping sprees unheard of before in any economy.

Its all about the feeling. People want to feel important, they want to feel high class. They want to feel like a top corporate executive. The problem here is that the foundation is all messed up. A tree that does`nt have strong roots will fall. In economy the roots begin with our mindset, a strong foundation is depended on what drives us.

My hope is that people will return to the simple life. It does not mean they should give up that executive chair - but it means to lead a life of simplicity and humility.


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IsraelExporter.com - Marketing and Lead Generation for Israel's Leading Export Companies PiTag Media - PiTag Media uses online tools to provide increased value for start ups and large companies. Connect with me on LinkedIN

Think of the percentage of entrepreneurs who arrive here in the forums, saying they have a business idea but they need money. They need a backer, capital, etc. I wonder how many of them think they`re going to "buy a business," following along with the idea of consumerism.

We could draw an analogy between bootstrapping v. startup capital, and creating a business v. buying a business.

the primary problem with this country is that money has been given to people that did not deserve it, e.g. Medicaid and social security and Medicare.

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James Lindon, Ph.D. Patent Attorney
Lindon & Lindon, LLC
Cleveland, Ohio
Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Pharmacy Law, Litigation
[this is not legal advice - provided for discussion only]
Intellectual Property for the Individual and Small Business: Identify, Protect, Enforce, Defend.
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
http://www.LindonLaw.com