The Perfect Storm (Economically Speaking) a Year Later. The Worst (Best) is Yet To Come.

To understand this article you will need to read my article from a year ago with a similar name.  The Perfect Storm (Economically Speaking).  What's different, what's new, what have we learned and how far have we come and where are we going?

Capital, even though it is hemorrhaging slowly, is still pent-up. It needs to flow faster to the capital demand and will as it realizes it is missing opportunities (which it is).  What do the markets think?  Go to almost any trade show this year - They are bigger and the crowds are huge, much larger than just last year.  This is definitely a leading indicator of the state of our economy (Peter Lynch style).

Businesses are spending and hiring; the pace on both is going to increase.  Last year I felt like we were in a sling shot still pulling back (potential energy) - it's definitely moving forward now (kinetic energy).

As I have said before, a government that is indecisive, causes money to sit still - no one invests when the rules-of-the-game have not been defined.  Today, even though the rules still need some tuning, the capital and venture markets can no longer hold back - we are moving to flowing dollars.  What is even more amazing (IMHO), business activity is driving our government policies to make decisions (immigration reform).

So what else is coming?  High interest rates, high inflation, low unemployment, cheap non-exportable energy (venture $$$ abuzz), re-urbanization and localization.

Fun times ahead, I wish I were a young entrepreneur again; I envy my children and my grand children as there is a bright future for the young entrepreneur.

Oh, and I took the summer off from writing :) .

Bob

Localization - It's about Much More Than Printing.

Let's make this country a better place and there is no better place to start than in our own hometowns.

As anyone who follows this blog or knows the Time4 and LightsOn initiative; it is quite simple: Make Our Customer Succeed.  We are all about recreating local in a world that knows more about a Jersey Shore celebrity than their own neighbor.  Lets fix this by starting in our own home town.  The following three past articles give some background to this idea.

• Collaborative Marketing Efforts Make The Impossible - Probable. 
• Followup on "Who Me, Who Three - Fixing the Local Print Business" Can the Local Printer Survive?
• The Post Offices (USPS) Encore or the Beginning of the End

Over the last couple months we have been testing our "Buy. Eat. Live. Local." concept with the purpose of moving "Buy Local" from a lip service to a way of life - our lives and our future.  We have made the objective of "Buy. Eat. Live. Local." a product (evolving as it is) to help communities across the country by providing it to local entrepreneurs who, most importantly, live there, work there and buy there.  Have you ever been there?

"Buy. Eat. Live. Local." is the coming together of many environmental, business, social and economic factors.  One of the biggest factors is the forth coming re-urbanization of America over the next 20-30 years which I will be writing about extensively.  For those as old as I, think about it as Megatrends 2013.

How well grasped is this concept?

Here is the Town of Windham Maine's ad - a paid ad - giving 10 reasons why this just makes sense.  So Shop Smart and Shop Local.

 ....and here is what we say:

”Natural Communities Form Around Community and Commerce Centers”.

Buy. Eat. Live. Local

In almost all cases your Windham merchant will provide
Better Service at a Better Price with Less Hassle.

Why?  You know them – They depend on Windham people and they live in Windham.

Buy. Eat. Live. Local and watch Windham grow.

 This is not a concept coming to your home town, it's already there !!!