Loichinger Advantage

I have recently had very meaningful data shared with me this week that caused me to pause and think.  The number of businesses that fail every year.  The number of start ups that never make it.  The number of business owners who will want to leave their business but can’t.

This morning, I facilitated an exit planning briefing along with my business partner and our guest speaker, John H. Brown, president of Business Enterprise Incorporated (BEI).  John started the session with some of these demographics.

• 1.2 million business owners have 10 or more employees today.

All writers ask the question. 

Whether a blogger or a columnist; we quietly do our work and wonder if anyone reads it.  The technology allow for interaction, rebuttle and opposing opinions, but life is busy.  I’m guilty of this myself.  I find addressing columnist opinions about as satisfying as filling out one more customer satisfaction survey.

So, we ask the question quietly to ourselves - is anybody out there?

Have you ever heard your friends and family members use that expression?

Today I feel it deeply and as profoundly as I have ever felt it.  I am very very lucky!  While my bank account would not tell you that I am a rich man, I have resources beyond belief.  I have a growing consulting business; now two actually.  My wife and I have great and deep friendships.  Our kids are growing into great people and love the careers they have chosen.

I had the opportunity to catch up with one of my consulting colleagues today, and in the midst of our rapid commentary on business, the economy and the world, we both realized the predicament that business owners have recently found themselves in.

Many of our friends have had businesses for many years, and BOOM, the economy falls or plummets into a deep dive.  As an owner, we push your chair back, watch, observe, act in ways that seem rationale.  Still, for some, it isn’t enough.  They have to close their doors.