|
Once you accept that the world is in
turmoil and for all the good will in the world, no one is going to
help small business and the only way an individual can change things
is to look after themselves, then it becomes much simpler to forecast
and plan a route for 2009.
The buzz words you will see coming
through now are “creative destruction” and “disruptive
innovation”. This is where new forces emerge and overthrow the ham
strung encumbants. This all sounds a bit like Karl Marx on a
soapbox, but Philip Copeman, project leader to the TurboCASH
Accounting project, takes us through the scenarios that we can expect
and how small business can take advantage of it.
Who you are, will count much more
To date, no one has lent money to small
business. Banks lend to a house owning individual, who then lends the
money to the business. This channel has now dried up. A new range of
financial lenders enters the market, loan sharks and commercial
creditors. Sellers start to become their own finance houses. People
lending you money need to know who you are.
Make sure that your accounts are
accurate and kept up to date. Having this information readily
available and HONESTLY portrayed is your best way of gaining credit
finance from your suppliers and financiers. The TurboCASH
system is your best way to do this. If you are behind in your
accounting catch up now. If you are struggling to do so, get the help
of a TurboCASH consultant. Once up to date, stay up to date.
See innovative financing arrangements
The
Receivables Company
Rise of the Barter Economy
In a credit crunch smaller businesses
suffer more than any in the ability to raise capital. Sales of larger
items become harder to finance. Once the monetary system starts to
breakdown we return to the Barter economy. It is unlikey to be as bad
as that, but there will certainly be a rise in the transactions
between closed groups. “Business Networks” provide a similar role
U-exchange
Business
Network
More Get-Rich- Quick Schemes
There will be a rise in ever more
desperate offerings, giving you the chance, invariably for a small
fee, to make it really big with little capital or effort. This distraction is a
great a pity, because there WILL be real opportunities for those
ready to take advantage of them. Do not close you eyes to new
opportunities. Structures are collapsing all around us and the low
lying fruit is there for the picking.
The opportunities are not likely to
exists in some miraculous email that has per chance found its way to
you, but rather in the markets right around you where you are already trading.
Rise of Protectionism
As the Depression start to bite,
protectionism is inevitable. In the 1930s, the infamous Smoot Hawley
Tarrifs came out to protect US business. While all the text books
tell us that protectionism makes it worse, expect the world leaders
to talk freedom and act protectionist. Tighter immigration laws, controls on imports, subsidies of exports. Expect small
businesses to be able to pick up advantages. See what Belleville, a
small town in Canada does - Buy
Locally Owned
See the comments of local Belleville
resident Karen
Sellick on why she thinks it is not a good idea.
Using Disruptive technologies
If you are using TurboCASH, you
have already begun. Next step is to take advantage of the many free
and near free facilities that help you to get your business out
there. If you have loaded you stock items for sale, you are now ready
to load them onto the web. New technologies make marketing and
delivery a competitive advantage. More about this in later blogs.
|
