Be Brave!

Times are different, that's for sure. As I interact with business owners throughout the community, the one constant I see amongst those doing well is that they started making changes months ago. They saw what the economy was doing to people's wallets and proactively started to think of new ways to smartly reduce costs, attract new leads and retain current customers. They didn't wait "until things got better". They moved ahead quickly. It is not too late for your business but don't hestiate a minute longer.

I'm cautiously optimistic for the next 12 months and can confidently say people will not go back to their free spending ways for at least 5 to 10 years. For those of you old enough, remember when we waited on long lines for gas back in the mid-70's and said we would never buy gas guslers again. Well, we humans forget and SUVs became the big rage and hear we are again with most people driving gas sucking cars!

People are slowing prying the "green backs" from their pocketbooks but are being incredibly choosy who they spend it with. There is no more tolerance for poor service, poor product quality, indifferent sales people, dirty buying environments or rudeness over the phone. They will kiss you goodbye and never come back. Don't let that happen.

Be brave, look at everything and make changes now.