Say hooray for spring!

Spring reminds us that old trees can grow, that seeds can lead to shoots and that after a difficult winter flowers will still abound.

The current recession is our difficult winter. Businesses that are weathering the recession are the old trees that will grow again and start-up businesses are the seeds being planted now that will push up green sprouts and then flowers.

Whatever your organization has had to do and is doing to struggle through the recession, be sure you are taking the steps to plan for and foster future growth.  Don't be the pioneer who burnt the furniture and then the cabin to stay warm in the winter, and then ate the seed corn.  By engaging in an on-going strategic planning process, you should have identified and protected your strategic assets so you can use them to build on as the economy recovers and opportunity emerges.

If you are planting seeds for new ventures, take heart!  Ventures conceived in a time of excess can be precarious because the business plan is based on optimal conditions that are likely not to continue and projections that are overly optimistic. Ventures planned in tough times are more likely to be predicted on a low baseline of activity and more realistic conditions. New businesses whose seeds send up shoots in these hard times can be those that flower as conditions improve.

Our economic spring may be a while in coming, but today is the time to ask: Are we preparing for the growth climate that will emerge?