Invest now?

Nowadays, companies have refocused their attention from expansion and growth to downsizing and basically surviving. My question to them is, where do they think they will be once the economy starts turning around? Simple, they will be down there with all the rest trying to catch up. While companies that have invested, developed new products, hired those great people that these big corporations let go, manufactured these products using materials from companies that have excess inventory; are already in the game with those great products and a great marketing strategy in place to capture the share of their competitors who have downsized themselves.

Corporations have been so worried looking at the bottom line that they have hit rock bottom. It's like watching those movies where after the cloud clears, the pilot sees that he is about to crash then lets go of the wheel, raises his hands or even covers his face and starts screaming then crashes. You would think that he would put all his effort in pulling that wheel to steer the plane up to avoid crashing or even before that happens, monitors those gauges so that he doesn't get a surprise when the clouds clear. If it were I, I would have died trying, after all, I still have command of the plane. But that's in the movies. Hey, wait, what am I talking about, it's happening now in big corporations. The CEO upon seeing that they are about to crash raises his hands in surrender, covers his face (from the stockholders) and starts screaming, actually declaring bankruptcy!

I am no economist, but I think it's just common sense to think that if there's anyway out of this recession it's not by adding more unemployed people to the jobless community who won't be able to pay for the products and services your company is providing. It's like adding coal to an already burning building. If each company started investing (of course you better have a great strategy behind that investment), hiring and purchasing, then people will start having more confidence in our economy and start buying and continue buying as well. We can't rely on the stimulus to sustain us. Just like we can't rely on construction projects to sustain permanent jobs. Once the project is over, so are the jobs. This is why I believe that creating new business that eventually generates new jobs that are permanent is more important.

If there was anytime for a company to invest, it's now - surplus of smart and talented people, excess material inventory, great and discounted products and services... Now, if we could just have the banks to ease up on their credit. (I thought that was what the bailout money was for? I'll save this for another blog. I'm sure you have a lot to say about this too.)

If you believe that time is money, don't wait 'til the dust has settled. Invest now and before you know it, you'll be at the finish line while your competition is just starting.