Podcast 228 - Centering Ourselves For The Long Game 2020 & Beyond

<p>A recent not-so-nice review on iTunes combined with some of my own mutterings, plus a listener question combined to produce some thoughts on how we can set our outlook for the long haul, as the Covid reality is extending beyond weeks and months. Here is the brief article I mentioned at the end: </p><br><p>Not everyone suffered during the Great Depression.&nbsp;<strong>More people became millionaires during this time than in any other time in American history. Opportunities, that were not present during the 1920s economic boom times, suddenly became available. An economic downturn is a good time to start a business. Start-up costs are much lower in a recession than in boom periods. Savvy entrepreneurs edged in and positioned themselves for when the economic climate improved.&nbsp;</strong>Many poorly run businesses closed during the Depression years and their equipment and assets could be bought at fireside sales for next to nothing. Commercial rents were cheap and wages were low. There was also time to get the business fundamentals right before increased orders made it too hectic for the entrepreneur to build and test his business model. It was these ‘if you can dream it, you can do it’ Great Depression entrepreneurs that made the best of the crisis to provide a service, or product, for new markets.</p><br><p>Who were some of these maverick entrepreneurs? Some very famous names made their money during the Depression era. In Kentucky, a grandfather, called Colonel Sanders, started serving fried chicken at his gas station. By 1937 he had expended to a 142 seat restaurant due to popular demand. Two young electrical engineering graduates stared a electrical machine business in a rented garage during the 1930s. Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard officially became business partners in 1939 with only $538 in investment money.</p><br><p><strong>Many people with small amounts of liquid cash were able to buy bankrupt businesses at bargain prices.&nbsp;</strong>Towards the end of the 1930s some business people watched the ups