629 MILES

 

I filled up the tank of my hybrid and started out of the gas station. A look at the dash stopped me. It read 629 miles to empty. To the East was the ocean, to the North the giant east coast cities, to the South the low country and the grade B movie that is Florida. To the West, was the rest of the country where I had lived most of my life. It had been too long since I had been on the road.

They say with age that your world becomes smaller. It’s true in some ways. You don’t walk as far or as well as you used to. A few medical detours take their toll. Your just not as sure about things as you used to be, maybe life has shown you too much.

But I remembered when I did live out west and was young. How you thought nothing of driving eight hours from Seattle into the high desert to find peace and dreams. Where had those years gone?

All these things weighed on my mind, still there were new places to go in the East. Maybe a story or two to write. I looked at the dash again, 629 miles to empty…

NEVER DONE

 

 Great painters will tell you that their works of art are never done. There are always the detail to be added, the balance to be gained, the colors blended. Often these not added until years later, when the painter gains the next level of skill and experience.

How often is this so true in business, where we look back and realize how we could have done things better. How we could have made a difference for people. 

It’s hard but overtime you forgive yourself for this and realize like the painter you now have better strokes to make on the work you do…

YOU CAN'T LIVE FOREVER

As you get older, death and dying weigh more on your mind. You spend your life hurtling into the future, going from A to B, and planning the next move. Thinking about the end is not easy or comfortable. So much so, you can have great fear about it.

There is plenty of information about putting your affairs in order. Wills, final wishes, life insurance, and arrangements. These are just the details. How to grow comfortable with your fate is another matter. Some Scandinavia countries actually have senior citizens practice falling, so they know how to handle it. But with dying, you seem on your own to contemplate the prospect.

Maybe it's good to take some time to practice dying. That doesn't mean sucking all the air out when you are lying on a couch. It's about taking stock of the life you have lived. Has it given you peace of mind, a spirituality. Have you taken time to embrace all of life around you and the fulfillment  that comes from that.

As important as staying on the speeding bullet of life, may be stopping to consider the end and how you feel about it. 

Additional Reading: "Preparing to Die, Practical Advice and spiritual wisdom from Tibetan Buddhist Traditions" by Andrew Holecek

THE POETRY OF THE MOMENT

 

“An ordinary coffee place on a dark day. The patrons blending into a blankness. Their faces backlit. Still there was poetry here. Each person a blank sheet of paper to write on. Places for lines of rhymes.” - Oregon Taylor Fields 

You might be good at art or you might not. Either way art can make your life richer. You learn to see things different and more fully. Scenes you pass pull at you, making you pause. Studies have shown art can increase critical thinking, cultural interaction and can even fuel community rebirth.

Against this backdrop though, 55% of school districts have substantially reduced or eliminated funding for the arts. In many cases in favor of STEM programs. In the broader community, art museums have also suffered from reduced attendance and donor funding. While it used to be that art donations topped the focus of community leaders. That has changed with Gen x, Millennials, and Gen Z interest ranking arts as low as 3rd on the list for donations.

Larger global issues such as climate change, technology and the demands of a tech based economy have led to this situation. AI has also impacted the landscape of art in many ways still being understood.

Time only will tell though if this re-ordering has unintended consequences from the lack of arts exposure. It’s important to have the ability to take in and fully appreciate the poetry of the moment. It’s important to being human…

PROFITING FROM THE OTHER MARKET

 

The appearance of wealth is running rampant in the USA. Luxury cars, travel, Yachts, homes, and expensive handbags allure us. The idea of fame, wealth and power keep us fixated on this well to do economy. At the same time though, there is another market largely overlooked. 

It’s sobering to realize that the middle class has shrunk substantially. In the past 50 years, the middle class of our economy has shrunk from 61% to present day 50%. Even with wages rising, they haven’t been able to offset the higher cost of living pushing many out of the middle class. If you make less than $52,000 you are now considered to be low income. This segments represents 50% of the households in the US. The unmet needs of this group are enormous including affordable housing, healthcare, food, and services. 23% of the low end of this segment don’t even use banks.

Where there are needs, there is also opportunity. New marginal income, brand loyalty and profit can be found here. The market segment is unique through, requiring special approaches. It is a market that is slow to move. Some firms in the past have used predatory approaches to capturing profit creating business distrust. Many low income people over time have learned unique ways to deal with needs, an improvised self sufficiency. When cars break down, they call Joe down the street to help, not a dealership.

Successful approaches needed to capture market share in this segment include: 1) understanding the market, 2) delivering affordable products that target real needs, 3) products must focus on quality and value even at low price points, 4) cost effective ways to operated need to be modeled and followed, 5) the products and services need to be easily accessible both in location and on line, and 6) trust must be built in the community including the potential of partnering with non profits.

A recent Forbes article highlighted companies like Dollar General who have been able to do this. Dollar added fresh fruit and vegetables to their stores in otherwise food deserts. This increased both store traffic and profits.

As a business, you can follow the crowd marketing products and services to the wealthy market. A market that often is over run with such products. Or you can turn your attention to the overlooked low income market. One where new profits can be found and making a difference can be the rewards.

Sources for this article include: Forbes, CNBC, World Economic Forum, Statista, Pew Research Center

EXPORTING

 

Business planning often overlooks the potential of exporting. The US imports $115 billion more than it exports. With all the talk of tariffs and other issues surrounding imports, the opportunity represented by exporting is often overlooked.

Exporting is not just a big company game. Many small and medium size companies who produce products or represent them can profit from exporting. Exporting represents new market shares not pursued by competition. Examples include a small firm restoring Harley Davidson motorcycles for collectors in Japan, a group of high tech executives who discovered a Latin American market for surplus hi tech hardware and software, to a broker who exports timber and surplus building material. 

Barriers to exporting can seem high. However, there is wealth of resources to help you learn the ropes and succeed. These include the SBA. The Export Assistance Centers, SBDC and U.S. Trade and Development Agency. There is even financing available to fund your export transactions through the Export Import Bank. 

One of the main functions of our Embassy network is to find trading opportunities for US companies. Interestingly, Canada and Mexico are two of the largest trading partners we have. You can find opportunities for export there through your own efforts.

So when everyone else is making plans for the US market, why not take on the world to expand your business in 2025.

GUEST 1305

 

Have you been to a McDonald’s lately? I took a drive yesterday out into the beautiful and pleasant low country of the South. I always get this feeling after about 2 hours of driving, “why not drive across the country,” I say to myself.

I stopped for lunch at a McDonald’s I used to go to. A safe meal on the road always a good thing. What a change, no large area for seating, no Mc Coffee, just a wall with a shelf for the finished product to arrive.

You ordered a a kiosk (I knew that), but the sheer lack of any contact with a human now much more the case. I held my receipt 1305. I could see in the corner slant view of the kitchen drinks coming down the line, apparently they found a way to fill these without humans too. 

We all stood around with our receipts, 1304 was next to me, focused on listening for the the finished Big Macs to be called out. Finally “1305,” I found one of the few seats in the place.

I thought to myself, that you might never see another human being in a cross country trip. I decided to give this some thought and keep my 1305 number just in case.