First of all I would like to give a heartfelt thank you to all of the people who have given their warm welcome to our fledgling business. Second, I would like to thank all of the people who told us everything that is wrong with us especially the one who reminded us about the bad economy and told us we should pack it up now. You give us the motivation and the drive, in which to show you that we are better and please don?t forget that you are our best beta testers
and free to boot!
Here is a quick little history lesson:
-1873-1895 Worldwide Depression for 22 years (Vienna Stock Market Crash)
Startups during this period make up a large number of the Fortune 500 and this is the short list.
Eli Lilly, IBM, Merck, Hershey's, Gillette, Alcoa, J&J, Chevron, GE, AT&T, Abbott, Coors, Johnson Controls, Bristol-Myers and PPG
-1929-1939 ?The Great Depression?
Startups during this period when the stock market crashed around 90% of its value and Unemployment was around 30%.
Texas Instruments, HP, 20th Century Fox and United Technologies
-1973-1976 Oil shock and Market Crash
Startups during this period fought against a market that was down 50% and inflation was in double digits.
Fed Ex, LexisNexis, Microsoft, Genentech & Apple
-1980-1982 The Early 80?s Crisis
Startups clawed their way through mortgage rates around 21% among other issues.
Amgen, Sun, E*Trade, Autodesk, Adobe, BMC, EA and Symantec
There were many more slumps than those mentioned here but I believe my point has been made; some of this country?s largest and strongest companies were made during tough times. Perhaps it is only by being created in the refiner?s fire can we truly become a purely competitive company. Companies that were created during boom times never had to pinch a quarter until the eagle screamed, but rather had deep reserves of credit on their side allowing copious amounts of the fudge factor. This is not to say that all companies which were built in boom times will falter in the bust. However, if the down economy was the only thing you ever knew then being resourceful will be just conducting business as usual as opposed to tightening your belt.
The Fine Line
Of course with anything there is a catch, and that is the same with everything in life. You have to spend money at the same time you are tightening your belt. In other words judicious purchasing habits, reign supreme. Kellogg?s overtook Post during the Great Depression as the number one cereal producer. This happened mostly through aggressive advertising in addition to research and development of their products and brand. If you look at the companies that thrived during the depressions/recessions you will find those same qualities amongst all of them. This means that when you call into a company that has both consumer and business services (i.e. cable companies) you must be transferred to the other ?department? to complete a transaction. This is wasteful since an operator can easily switch between services on a computer screen and speak ?intelligently? on both sides. This is the type of wasteful spending that large companies will learn to cut so they can survive.
Customer Service
How many of you remember the cool toys Cracker Jacks used to come with, my favorite was the cheap assed plastic pinball machine, have you looked in one of those boxes lately? How about the toys, cereals come with or even the Dodge Neon originally came with cheap Ray-Ban knockoffs that matched the neon color of the car you purchased. Did ugly assed $5 glasses really make you buy the car or was it just a nice thing to have and made you feel more of a connection with what and whom you had made the purchase? Even ?dish night? at the movie theaters during the great depression offered glasses and plates when you paid to go to the movies, this way the movie was less of a guilty pleasure but gave you something tangible you could bring home along with the experience and keep you from making another purchase somewhere else. Companies are going to have to start learning customer service if they expect to not only survive but thrive.
Content Grove exemplifies all of the qualities and I guess we will just see who is still standing when the dust settles.
?Fight one more round, you?ll never be whipped!?