By Steve Ranger, 19 January 2009 11:18
COMMENT
The UK's most optimistic businessman is operating on my high street.
I know this because I've seen him there, beaming with pride outside his brand new, gleaming... estate agency.
That's right: in the midst of perhaps the most inclement climate for buying property since Noah built his ark, there's a guy down the high road who reckons it's a good time to turn entrepreneur. Next he'll be opening a bank. And getting into sub-prime loans.
But who knows? Despite whatever you may think of estate agents repopulating our high streets, perhaps he's right to act now.
It's clearly a painful period - and it may well get worse.
Don't forget - just last week business minister Baroness Vadera found herself being criticised for claiming she could see "a few green shoots" of economic recovery.
But it doesn't mean everyone will do badly all the time.
It seems that because everyone failed to spot that the emperor had no clothes all the way through the economic boom time, anyone that suggests he might now even have a mankini on to protect his modesty is shouted down.
Too many of us have swapped irrational exuberance for irrational despair.
We shouldn't immediately shout down anyone who suggests the situation - while tough - isn't disastrous for everyone.
Some research from Gartner caught my eye this week, which has a similar theme, arguing CIOs need to be "decisive and resourceful" this year as they battle to squeeze the most out of stagnant IT budgets.
"Leading organisations recognise the seriousness of economic conditions but they are not paralysed by them," argues Gartner, and it's hard not to agree.
I hear of plenty of CIOs that aren't just battening down the hatches and hoping to ride out the storm as best they can. They're making positive efforts, whether that is shaking up their teams, experimenting with new technologies or getting new projects kicked off, even if they are only small scale initiatives.
We can't pull up the duvet and sleep through the tough times - the only way to make the grey clouds disappear is to blow them away ourselves. And that means taking risks. And maybe - just maybe - allowing ourselves a warm feeling when we see a new estate agent opening its doors.
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Comments
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1. anonymous
Of all new business startups, over the first critical 3 years, Estate Agencies are one of the most likely to survive, so even with a downturn in the economy the fella is fairly well placed.