Once upon a time, not so long ago… if someone went into business they were almost assured of financial security. Perhaps even becoming wealthy. Often they were held in high regard by the city and townspeople simply because they were in business for themselves, creating jobs and providing what people needed in their daily lives.
Many of us can still remember what it meant to be an independent business person back in the decades of the 50s, 60s and 70s. We can all probably recall businesses, large and small, that our families bought goods and services from. But how many people actually owned a business? Think about your family and friends. Did they have their own business or did they work for someone else?
Most people didn’t have business educations or the mindset to start their own business. Back then employers in the country were big giant corporations – GM, Ford, US Steel, Westinghouse, Gulf Oil, to name a few. Or large regional companies like department stores and grocery chains.
But today due to technology, people being better educated, more ways to gain funding and a more open business community it’s possible for anyone with a will to work hard and a dream to get into business.
Getting into business is one thing. But staying in business is something else.
It’s relatively easy to be successful in an expanding, growing economy. But today, as the country continues to recover from the recession, the numbers of people going out of business is staggering. Just having the will to succeed, working hard and having an idea is not enough.
Business people need to understand what’s happening in the economy and what the marketplace wants. It can mean the difference between success and failure.
Though the basics of business are the same, how you do business in this economy is different than it was prior to the recession. That’s why you need to stay current with what’s going on in the economy and the business world.
Whatever subject you want to know about, whatever business question you have, the answer is right in front of you on your computer screen, all you need to do is search for it. Often blogs contain multiple information resources. It could be a blog post, a book, an article, a podcast, a video, a website or the name of an expert who has the information you need to become more successful. Blogs will help you keep current with business information and provide you with valuable business insight and business perspective.
There is now a vast amount of business information available to anyone who’s willing to make the effort to search for it on the internet. But information isn’t always enough. It’s how you translate that information, how you understand it and apply it to your specific business situation.
That’s why I suggest finding several business blogs that resonate with you and your business. Reading the blog posts of these business experts will help you to stay relevant and keep you thinking of how to improve your business.
Please share the links to blogs you read on a regular basis that help you with your business and with becoming a better business person.