Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Downsizing, The Economy and 4ft x 8ft Whiteboards
From the title you've probably already figured out how downsizing is related to the economy but are unable to tie 4ft x 8ft whiteboards into the picture. It's quote simple really but first I need to give you a bit of background. During the past two years I have gone from two f/t employees, to 15 employees and now down to one employee. People keep saying that the economy is to blame and that good people are being hurt by the economy and they point the finger everywhere except for where it deserves to be pointed... righ at me. Yes, I'm the one to blame for the demise of Labitat as an seo consulting company and I take full responsibility for that. Over the next couple of months I'll share some insight with you about how I broke business 101 rules left and right and how I'm paying the price for it now so you can avoid those same pitfalls.Now getting back to the title, first off I've downsized Labitat drastically. Like I said earlier, it has gone from 15 employees to just me and even I'm not really a full time employee (since I haven't received a paycheck in close to 9 months). Secondly, the economy has nothing to do with an seo consultancy failing. SEO is the boom business in every down economy. I started my last seo firm (Global Promoter) back in 2002 when the economy was still in the dot-Bomb slump and it went gangbusters. Everyone is looking for the most cost-effective way to get new customers through their doors and seo is the cheapest, most-effective way of doing so behind word of mouth referrals. Now the 4 foot by 8 foot whiteboards. That's where the real story of the economy comes into play.
4ft x 8ft Whiteboards Represent Real World Businesses
This week I have been liquidating all of the crap that's been lying around the office. From ethernet cables to mice and from desks to adding machines, I'm getting rid of all of it. During the process I've tried to get rid of the 4 ceramic whiteboards I have in the conference room since I'll be moving out of the office at the end of July. Everyone loves the whiteboards but they all answer me with the same response... The whiteboards are great and we'd love to buy one but we don't have room. We're working from our home and the room we're working in doesn't have enough room for a full size whiteboard.
Did you see that or did you miss the connection. Small business owners today are far more likely to start or run their business out of their house than ever before. Even me, my company has been around for nearly 4 years and I'm headed home to work from the sewing slash spare bedroom slash office at my house. I'm cutting costs left and right and don't want to go bankrupt because I owe people money and I'm going to make good on my debts and that means getting rid of absolutely everything that doesn't help me generate revenue. The only reason I got an office in the first place was to accomodate all of the out of towners and employees that I had to hire to keep up with the workload that we no longer have.
So if you want a stock tip, don't buy stock in any company who's primary business is whiteboards. There are far more small businesses than there are large businesses in the world and right now they don't have the room for 4ft by 8ft whiteboards.
Posted By Jason Dowdell at 10:32 AM
Permanent Link: Downsizing, The Economy and 4ft x 8ft Whiteboards
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