The state we're in
- By Peter Carruthers
- Published 07/23/2008
- Money
- Unrated
A few folk have seen fit to complain about my writing these past few weeks. They say I no longer say good things. I only focus on the bad, it seems. It appears that my raising the spectre of failure is a bad thing. I am buying into all the tabloid hype about our economy, I am told.
I thought I had run my last CrashProof workshop in 2003. The country was booming. We were all floating on a rising tide of cash. The future was so bright we all needed Ray-Bans, except for KZN where Oakleys were all the rage. Five years later and the playing fields have potholes.
Since the start of this year I have lost thirty Warriors each month as they have closed down. That's not focusing on the bad. That's reality. If that trend carries on, I will lose almost a third of my client base this year as they close their own firms. That's not hype. That's reality.
I am not a journalist. My role is not to scare you. I value the fact that you think my words might be worth reading each week. I don't buy into the headlines about massive job cuts, or price hikes. At least, not until those effects ripple down into my clients.
The state of affairs is tight, in my opinion. That's why I decided it was time to discuss ways to survive business closure because so many of us are facing it. That's what the CrashProof seminar does.
I do not think it is fair when a small business owner (or self employed person) is forced to lose everything because the economy has taken a step backwards. That is what happens to most of us little folk.
I find it strange that the MD of Eskom, the person most to blame for the parlous place we find ourselves right now, retains his job, his bonus, and his future, when the results of his choices are putting my friends and clients out of business.
It does not seem fair that he can hurt so many people and not be held to account, while my hero is caught in the net and loses his daily bread, his home, his life savings, and five years of his future. (Or hers.)
I do not think it is right to stay silent about it. That means I face a choice of my own. Do I join the crowd and bay for his blood, knowing that it will not happen in my lifetime? Do I teach people I like and respect how to cope with events and how to salvage their daily bread, their homes, and their life savings?
I have chosen to help those folk I can, rather than to tilt at the windmill that is Eskom. Given their progress we may need that windmill soon!
I thought I had run my last CrashProof workshop in 2003. The country was booming. We were all floating on a rising tide of cash. The future was so bright we all needed Ray-Bans, except for KZN where Oakleys were all the rage. Five years later and the playing fields have potholes.
Since the start of this year I have lost thirty Warriors each month as they have closed down. That's not focusing on the bad. That's reality. If that trend carries on, I will lose almost a third of my client base this year as they close their own firms. That's not hype. That's reality.
I am not a journalist. My role is not to scare you. I value the fact that you think my words might be worth reading each week. I don't buy into the headlines about massive job cuts, or price hikes. At least, not until those effects ripple down into my clients.
The state of affairs is tight, in my opinion. That's why I decided it was time to discuss ways to survive business closure because so many of us are facing it. That's what the CrashProof seminar does.
I do not think it is fair when a small business owner (or self employed person) is forced to lose everything because the economy has taken a step backwards. That is what happens to most of us little folk.
I find it strange that the MD of Eskom, the person most to blame for the parlous place we find ourselves right now, retains his job, his bonus, and his future, when the results of his choices are putting my friends and clients out of business.
It does not seem fair that he can hurt so many people and not be held to account, while my hero is caught in the net and loses his daily bread, his home, his life savings, and five years of his future. (Or hers.)
I do not think it is right to stay silent about it. That means I face a choice of my own. Do I join the crowd and bay for his blood, knowing that it will not happen in my lifetime? Do I teach people I like and respect how to cope with events and how to salvage their daily bread, their homes, and their life savings?
I have chosen to help those folk I can, rather than to tilt at the windmill that is Eskom. Given their progress we may need that windmill soon!