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The Gathering Storm

Written by: Robin Elliott

Article Overview: Forewarned is forearmed - prepare your business!

The Gathering Storm

In my library at home, I have Winston Churchill’s Volume 1 of “The Second World War”, given to my Grandfather by my Dad in 1948. It’s titled, “The Gathering Storm”, and the theme of this Volume is:
“How the English-speaking peoples, through their unwisdom, carelessness, and good nature, allowed the wicked to rearm.”
I could write books on the application of this theme to today’s world, as you can imagine, but I would like to offer it as an analogy to our personal, financial lives.

Anyone in their right mind knows that there are serious changes coming to our socio-economic world, which will radically affect our financial situation, our Medicare, pensions, businesses, jobs and savings. Especially in Canada, where people have had an easy life under a semi-socialist government for a long time. Many people have their heads buried in the sand, and they refute and disregard the coming changes. Immigration, terrorism, outsourcing and macro-economic changes are about to turn the financial circumstances of millions of North Americans upside down.

The Jewish people have survived and prospered through the ages because of their understanding of, and use of, Capitalism, along with their transferable skills. Most small and medium business owners have very little understanding of business and money, evidenced by the failure of 87% of small business startups in their first five years, followed by the failure of 87% of the remaining 13% in the next five years. And they certainly don’t plan for major upheavals and changes.

If money isn’t important to you right now, ask any refugee, homeless person, sick person, poor person, struggling immigrant, downsized person, senior or single mom if money is important.

The understanding of, and use of, Joint Ventures can arm entrepreneurs and employees with a powerful, transferable skill set that can be applied under virtually any circumstances. By removing overhead and optimizing your profit margin through Joint Ventures, you can spread your income sources and expand your options internationally. Prophets are seldom welcomed and often stoned, as people kill the messenger. I have been called the Prophet of Profit. I predict major socio-economic upheavals and I offer the solution – become a Joint Venture Broker in preparation for the gathering storm. The Chinese have a saying, “Dig the well before you thirst.” I have shovels for sale.

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Related Forum Posts
Re: Entrepreneur Heroes Trading Cards - How is this project going? If you could turn the cards into a game like Magic-The Gathering you might hit the jackpot!
Would you buy a house for a dollar? - There are apparently places in Detroit where people can buy a HUD house for a dollar...or at any rate for some ridiculously low sum... I don't want to get into the real estate game, even if I had the money to do so, but I'm wondering if any entrepreneurs are thinking of getting into this? I know it's somewhat like Vultures Gathering, but if you've got the money, you can pick up some bargains right now, and, if things go well (ie. the right politicians get into office - not Obama!) the housing market might pick up in a few more years and you would finally be able to sell it at a profit...
Re: Are Economic Recessions Good for Franchising? - well, I can't give you any verified stats at the moment. But, it's a fact that as more and more people face layoffs they look in the direction of franchising. These are folks that need the security of a proven business model and have resources to jump into a franchise. It's a clear trend that has been witnessed in past recessions. My concern is that we are not in a simple recession... If you look at a recession as a big storm that will create some havoc and disrupt lives, then the events we're facing in the near future could be a supersized hurricane. We're heading into uncharted waters. High fuel costs, which will probably fluctuate for a while then jump again High debt loads... now in the trillions Sinking housing market... how low will it go? The US war machine is in full swing... with eyes on IRAN All of these factors are clashing to create the Perfect Storm and I don't like it one bit. I tell ya, there's a bunch of madmen at the helm. So how does this bode for franchising? jeez... I don't know... I'm gonna get myself a double scotch on the rocks. Cheers.
Re: What to do When You Have No Money - Not sure how I missed this thread, but great topic. Gathering capital is amongst the most difficult challenges for entrepreneurs and business people. Imagine how easy new start-ups and existing businesses would be to start and grow if you had access to significant capital. In my opinion it usually comes down to "creativity". If the regular avenues such as banks, family, savings and venture capital are not available you have to think creatively about how to reach your growth goals. A lot of the time the solution to the problem is a joint venture with another party. If you can create a win-win situation you may not even need to gather capital and you might be able to have the other party provide the services or skills you were needing in the first place. A good example of this is an internet start up. There are lots of people looking for capital for their "new internet startup" ideas, however there's not a lot of capital around to throw at these ideas. In situations like these, instead of seeking capital so that you can build the site, why not team up with a designer and coder to help you build the site. You'll probably have to give up some equity, but a JV will significantly reduce your capital risk and possibly help you turn out a better product in the end. Just my 2 cents. Phil
The Game Inventor's Guidebook - by Brian Tinsman, 2002 I checked this out of my local library today and its pretty interesting... didn't address what I wanted to know, which was how to actually design an online gaming system (indeed this doesn't cover online games at all), but for board games etc. it's pretty good. Here's the TOC: 1. How they diid it: Trivial Pursuit Magic, the Gathering Dungeons & Dragons Pokemon Trading Card Game Interview with an inventor Interview with a publisher 2. How the industry works 1. What's in it for you 2. How new games happen 3. Anatomy of a publisher 4. Markets for games 3. Games and companies you should know 1. Mass market games you should know 2. Mass market companies you should know 3. Hobby games you should know 4. Hobby companies you should know 5. American specialty games and companies you should know 6. European specialty games and companies you should know 4. Self publishing 1. What am I getting into 2. Before you print 3. After you print 5. Selling a game step by step 1. How to invent a game 2. Game design 3. Game development 4. Targeting publishers 5. Before you submit 6. Eight submission strategies 7. Contacting publishers 8. Protecting your property 9. What to do if they don't say yes 10. What to do if they do say yes! 11. The game industry's dirty little secret 6. Resources and examples Publishers and mnufacturers Distributors Brokers Game conventions and trade shows Industry publications Sample query letter Sample record of disclosure Sample licensing agreement Sample option agreement


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