Uncertain Times
We have entered a period of uncertain times. That fact is not debatable. The new administration is changing – or proposing to change – many of the things we have been complaining about but unfortunately have grown used to. Change always opens the door to uncertainty, but the phenomenal number of proposed changes, and the speed at which they are being rolled out, leaves many people with uncertainty on steroids. For most of the world, this is a major inconvenience. For those of us with businesses, uncertainty is a business killer that must be dispelled immediately by decisive action.
The changes in how we are governed, whether men can compete in women’s sports, or should we use plastic vs. paper straws, don’t affect our businesses much. But how we do business internationally as well as here at home, and how our taxes are being spent, should concern us. Let’s give these new people a little time to turn this ship around. After all, it took a few years to get the country into the pathetic shape it is now. Thirty-six trillion in the red didn’t happen overnight. And if they don’t deliver on their promises, we’ll hold their feet to the fire as well.
Speaking of fire…also helping to stoke the fires of uncertainty are the California fires. The damage they caused to life, property, and businesses is incalculable. We have clients and loved ones who lost family members, homes with all their possessions, and even beloved pets. Others lost their businesses – with some landscapers losing most of their client list. It’s not just material things that were lost. Some people have also lost hope. That’s when uncertainty rears its ugly head, imposing on the unsuspecting, a costly period of inaction.
You couple all of this with an underperforming rainy season and unrealistic conservation laws, and one wonders why anyone in business stays in business. We do it because we love it. We eagerly meet challenges head-on, figure out a way to overcome them, and execute the plan. Repeat.
I understand. No one is happy with $9.00 eggs or $4.00 gas, but you and I can’t do much about that now. What we can do as business owners, however, is to remain positive, incorporate these unforeseen changes and disaster results into a revised business plan based on what we can do right now. We keep busy doing constructive things we may have been putting off, and then move on with confidence, overcoming uncertainty.
Me, I’m readjusting my business plan, and putting most of my money into inventory for spring when I expect business to boom. While others are down-sizing, we’re growing. I’m expecting one of our best years ever. No uncertainty here.
– José Robles, owner, Landscape Warehouse