The Current Economy and Future Business

Of course the current economic meltdown is on everyone’s mind right now.  Here at the Vann Group, we’re getting a lot of questions about what we think about what’s happening in our economy and its impact on business.

What We Think

As many of you know, while a recession has not been officially declared by the people who allegedly are in a position to really know and make such a declaration, here at the Vann Group we have been saying for about two years that for most intents and purposes; we are in recession.  Now, with the sudden, multiple and intertwined situations of iron clad credit, a partial nationalizing of our financial system and certain large employers on the brink of domino-like collapses; we believe that we are at the pinnacle of a fundamental shift in our economic environment that businesses must take very seriously.

This is not a “sky is falling” prediction but rather a recognition that we will not wake up to morning headlines declaring the crisis over and problem solved.  The future will be different than what far too many people thought it would look like only a short few months ago.

We can talk for pages about why none of this should have seemed sudden or unexpected, but that is not our charge here.  In this medium, as business advisors, our job is to provide useful insight on what this fundamental shift means for businesses and what they need to do to be successful.

In a nutshell, the lending paradigm is shifting from one that worshiped at the altar of OPM (other people’s money) to one where the extension of credit is once again a privilege.  Additionally, spending by consumers and businesses is and will be cautious.

Smart people who have good businesses and concepts, and who work hard and can successfully function within the time-tested fundamentals of business and finance will continue to thrive.

One of those time-tested fundamentals is having a sound and up to date Success Plan; that is a strategic plan that guides you through this environmental transition, is focused on your desired long term outcome, and encompasses the core values of your business and why you got into business in the first place.  We’re re-naming “strategic planning” to “success planning” for several reasons outlined in our white paper, newly posted on our website, entitled  Success Planning:  The Time is Now.

November/December is a good time for businesses in general to create and/or update their plans; because you pretty well know how 2008 will finish and in order to get strategic priorities accomplished during 2009; you must start now.  Additionally, the best time to plan is during a downturn; because:

• Difficult economic times force you to focus on exactly what you need to do.
• You need to know exactly how to spend resources so that every dollar and person hour is leveraged to the fullest.
• The changing environment may uncover opportunities that you won’t see unless you take a broad and strategic view of your landscape.

These factors – together with the realization that our economy will continue to be fundamentally different than what we’ve become accustom to – means that the time is now to create or update your business success plan.

For more information about how we see this fundamental shift in our economy impacting society as a whole, see Mike Vann’s blog post from 10/11/08.

Workforce Training Fund Opportunity

We’re pleased to announce an excellent opportunity for Massachusetts businesses with 50 or fewer employees through the Massachusetts Department of Workforce Develop Workforce Training Fund.

Under this program, small companies can obtain high quality business courses at half the cost, because the Workforce Training Fund will reimburse 50% of the fee.

Our own Client First Associates, a Vann Group Company, offers an outstanding Strategic Vision Session through this program, which provides an excellent foundation for an effective Success Plan.

Specifically, the day and a half program offers a comprehensive approach to creating the key elements of a practical and evolutionary strategic plan.   The approach engages all facets of an organization from senior management down which allows participants to gain insight into the organization's culture and status as it appears throughout the Company. The approach looks to critically assess the organization prior to development of a strategy. The outcome of the session is that participants have established a common language and have improved their skills in communicating and collaborating in a team environment as well as jointly creating a document that identifies what they have determined will be their definition of success and how it will be measured. 

To obtain this outcome for 50% of the cost is an incredible value.  For further information about this opportunity, call Tom Lippie or Laura Block at Client First Associates at 413-543-2882.

If you have any questions about anything you’ve read here – or think you might benefit from the expertise of the Vann Group, please contact: