The current credit crisis has the man on the street up in arms at the greed of the bankers - it’s all their fault. The reason that people are so incensed this time around is that the problem is affecting them personally, the ordinary working man and woman, and of course the press have a fire to stoke for the next few months.
It’s not a great time for many people but it is an important one and I hope a lesson is being learned. We are all as much to blame for the problems as the bankers and it’s driven by greed; greed and lack of understanding about money matters in general. Let’s face it, I still remember the last main economic downturn in the early nineties, did many people forget?
- It frustrates me when friends moan about immigration, yet this has driven up the equity in their home, which they have borrowed against.
- I listen in disbelief when I hear people talk about jobs in the UK being lost, but they are happy to be buying products made in China, because they are cheaper.
- I laugh when I hear comments about share prices and greed, yet most peoples pensions are linked to stock markets feeding their pot (or not).
It’s all intrinsically linked - globally - whether we like it or not.
As an individual, I see it as my responsibility to understand as much of ‘the system’ as possible, so I can make informed decisions, rather than rely on general opinion when it’s too late.
About five years ago, I read a great book - easy to read - called Rich Dad, Poor Dad, by Robert T. Kiyosaki. It’s a simple book about money and the difference between earning money by working, and earning money by investing. It not opnly changed the way I look at my money, but also my time and the investment I need to make into my own ongoing education in all areas of my life.
About nine years ago, I read another great book called Funky Business, by Kjell Nordstrom and Jonas Ridderstrale, which pretty much illustrated where business was going in the global ecomony. It opened my eyes, prepared me and gave me an immense level of flexibility.
In bad financial times the people and businesses with the most flexibility will not only survive, they’ll prosper.
On a large scale recently, Warren Buffet just invested heavily in Goldman Sachs, when others are running a mile from banks. On a small busines scale, I was chatting to a friend who runs a training business. He was talking about how his pipeline has dried up and how he is switching his marketing efforts to coaching until the training market picks up.
Unfortunately, I think that most people will continue to keep their heads in the sand during this downturn.
My advice? Invest in your understanding. The more your know, the more options you have. The more options you have, the greater your flexibility - through good times and bad.
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Today I read this inspiring article:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/entrepreneurs_credit_crisis.php
Perhaps now is the opportunity to launch Holidaycrunch.com
When you see two Belgian banks being bailed out it starts to put things into perspective as Belgium is hardly one of the world’s economic powerhouses. What more is to come? Japan (been there before but this time is worse), USA (It sounded a lot at the time but now I’m wondering if $700bn is enough).
As for the UK, we’ve well and truly returned to the boom and bust that we were promised would never happen again, by the man who is now running driving this bus!
Fantastic post, Craig.
I particularly like the quote about flexibility:
“In bad financial times the people and businesses with the most flexibility will not only survive, they’ll prosper.”
And your point about “investing in your understanding”… the great thing about the web is that all you need is the time and patience to learn.
Great stuff.
Now, back to working on a new revenue stream for my business ;o)