Weiss Advice Issue: 237, April 2023
Just as your self-esteem should be constant (high) through both victories and defeats, your reaction to the turbulence in the economy should also be constant: prudent.
Don’t try to “play the market.” Make sure you have plenty of available cash or cash assets. Keep marketing as you always would. Don’t assume companies are “pulling back” or “laying low.” If there is to be a recession—which has been inaccurately predicted since the onset of the pandemic—it will be mild, not “your father’s recession.”
Tourism is exploding. Unemployment is really close to zero. Consumer spending is up. There isn’t another contentious election for 18 months in the US, and I’m predicting that neither Biden nor Harris will be their party’s candidates.
This is a good time to launch new value. Some of the greatest companies, from Revlon to Apple, from Disney to MTV, were launched during economic downturns—even the Great Depression. Focus on remote work, which is becoming the rule, but don’t overdo it. You don’t need six cameras, arc lights, and a mic from Mitsubishi. You simple need to treat the camera as the person with whom you’re having a conversation. And insist that everyone turn their video on. It’s rude not to, and I want to see people’s reactions in any case.
Above all, be fearless. This is a wonderful time if you make it one. Wasn’t it Picard on the Star Trek who would give a command and say, “Make it so.”
And look where it got him.
If you’d like a new tool in your kit, buy my newest book, just released, Sentient Strategy, on Amazon. And if you can give me a five-star review, I’ll invite you to a Zoom session for free.
© Alan Weiss 2023