I read an obvious but interesting article on www.cnn.com the other day about our stress levels. Check out the article here. http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/10/07/economic.stress/index.html
Our lives are in turmoil right now and of course we’re stressed. We always experience stress in our lives but the past few months are pushing many of us over the top. As gas prices doubled this past summer our lives changed because many of us couldn’t afford to drive our cars to work. People had to choose whether to feed their family or fill up their tank so they could drive to work. As gas prices rose, food and energy prices quickly followed. The cost of living was rising but our wages remained the same or even worse, many of us lost their jobs because of layoffs. Life became very difficult for all of us.
The collapse of the mortgage industry triggered the largest financial collapse since the 1929 stock market crash. Greedy lenders, out to make a fast buck, lent money to families that really couldn’t afford their homes. The result was a record number of home foreclosures. To dilute the risk, banks split up the risky mortgages into millions of pieces and sold the pieces to other banks and lenders. This worked well until these risky mortgages adjusted their rates to the market level. People suddenly saw their monthly mortgage double, triple and even quadruple overnight. Of course they couldn’t pay the new monthly payment so they lost their homes to foreclosure. Suddenly the banks owned thousands of undervalued homes instead of the risky mortgages. The result? Many major banks and investment banks went bankrupt.
Some of the largest car dealerships are going out of business. General Motors is on the verge of bankruptcy. Everyone is feeling this economic collapse and it will affect all of us for a very long time. No wonder we’re so stressed.
If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, my friends, Michael North, Volker Frank and Sanford Friedman are doing a workshop this week about controlling your stress. You can sign up for the free Brown Bag Lunch meeting at http://marketing.meetup.com/289/calendar/8939102/ The meeting is on Thursday October 16th at Noon in my San Rafael office. Technorati Tags: stress, stress reduction, General Motors, bankruptcy, stock market crash
Sphere: Related Content I just read an article in the newspaper about the rising price of rice due to higher fuel costs. Check out the article here. http://origin.mercurynews.com/valley/ci_9036860
Now they’re saying there’s a world rice shortage and major suppliers like Costco and Sam’s Club are going to start rationing rice! You have to be kidding!! What’s next a shortage on the air we breathe? Oh we already have a shortage of clean air to breathe. We also have a shortage of gas and water. What don’t we have a shortage of?
We’re using less gas in the
How is this affecting your business? Have you raised your rates or implemented a fuel surcharge? Are you afraid to raise your rates because your clients may disappear? It’s a fine line that you have to walk to keep your business going but also charging enough so you can stay in business. If you can’t cover your expenses then it’s not worth trying to keep your customers happy by not raising your rates.
I don’t remember anytime in my lifetime that things have collapsed so fast. We kept hearing how wonderful the economy was but the only ones reaping the benefits were the huge corporations and the richest one percent of our population. Everyone else slipped further into debt and now the proverbial shit is hitting the fan. Foreclosures and bankruptcies are at record levels and still increasing. With the prices rising faster than the temperature in July in
Make sure you’re charging your clients enough to keep your business afloat. If you’re living on credit or running your business on credit stop right now and do what you have to so you can stay in the black. It’s a scary time right now and nobody’s going to be around to bail you out.
