For the last year or so all we have heard on the news, read in the papers and even at the local corner shop; Recession; the one word on everyone’s lips. There are very few words that seem to gain strength from constant repetition, some actually go the other way, but as in the stories of ancient Greek mythology of the Olympians, where names had a power of their own, the same could be said about the word ‘recession’. Backed by a ‘media circus’, that harps on continuously about the economy, it was inevitable that ‘fundamentalist investors’, would sit up, take stock of their investment, which ultimately lead to them taking their money out of the financial markets. This was the catalyst most investors needed to start the avalanche of withdrawals from the financial markets. Which we all witness the knock-on effect, with the collapse of some of the world biggest and oldest financial institutions; i.e. Lehman Brothers, the taking over of HBOS by Lloyds TSB, the crumbling assets of the once very progressive Icelandic banks, the examples are too many to count, yet they all fail to show the true depth of this recession. Which was caused by “rank incompetence” and greed, at directorial level in many financial institutions, as well as the ineffable greed of many individuals who sought to get rich by destabilizing the market, while most suffered under the financial constraints placed on them by banks, whose whole Raison d'être was to try and stabilize their own meltdown, by refusing service to the very people (tax-payers) who in the end, came to their aid through Government back refinancing programmes.
After it was clear that the economy wasn’t growing; houses were repossess, high network individuals were forced into bankruptcy, billionaires and millionaires alike saw sizeable portion of their large fortunes wiped off, even business owners, no matter what level, were force to deal with the high demands placed on them by financial institutions, which in the end saw many closed down; Woolworth was one of the most high profile to go.
Now the question on everyone’s lips is where does that leave us? The truth is all isn’t doom and gloom as some would like us to believe, after many tried and tested formula and billions of tax payer’s money spent, the market are looking healthier these days. However, that episode has left a sour taste in the mouths of many, who were forced to pick up the pieces of last year debacle.
As a business owner, though I keep the day job working in media, I have to admit that deals do take longer to come by these days, they are more likely to fall through, and that’s the good part, the fact is business is hard to come by period. But as I said all is not lost, house prices are on the up again, the FTSE 100 has somewhat stabilised, admittedly on an unstable foundation, but it seems like we have pass the worst of it and the only way is up.
Consequently, there are undoubtedly lessons to be learned from the last year and a half, ones we must all take on board, to prevent the mistakes of the past from coming back on us. And as business owners, or business development managers in the media industry, in search for the proverbial dollar or the ever elusive wealth which we all crave, the experience of the last year will stand us in good stead for the future, because we will know that while things are good, secure strong financial backing for whatever projects we undertake, or enough clients that will be there to call up on, if God forbid this was to happen again in our life time, or worst, while we are still chasing success.
Kurt Fullerton
Managing Director
K & A GRP LTD.
www.kandabiz.com
