Let's not forget that these companies also had warnings and should have been prepared ahead of time. Warnings in the form of history. Who was it that said "if we don't learn from our mistakes we are doomed to repeat them"?
All any business has to do is look to the past. The roaring 20's to the depression 30's to the war in the 40's to good times again in the 50's and on and on and on. Our "economy" is, has been and always will by cyclical - great to good to bad to good to great and on and on it goes. Does anybody remember the gas shortage of the 70's? remember odd/even days? I do! Had one car odd, one car even and once a week my parents would have to line up 2 days to gas up each car. Since we had a gas station on the corner the line would extend down our street, blocking driveways as it snaked it's way. But what entrepenuers us kids were! We made a LOT of money (for that day) by selling lemonade to those thirsty drivers waiting hours in a line that were unprepared (too bad "bottled water" wasn't invented yet! Hey, who knows, the inventor of that was probably sitting in that gas line thinking "I wish there was a way to have a portable way to carry water for a time such as this" )
Those businesses who understand that, see that, learn from history will adjust as needed to accomodate these cycles.
Jayco is one example. So is Skyline. These companies have been around for years and years and years and have weathered the ups and downs of the economy. When Jayco started they started with simple pop-ups. As the demand for something different increased, they adapted and built was in demand. When the gas crunch hit, they stopped building what wasn't selling and concentrated efforts on what was and what would sell. They adapted. Skyline makes mobile homes. Perfect market for those seniors on budgets that can't afford high priced homes or don't want to.
Many businesses fail in times like this due to lack of foresight and mis-management of funds. Krispy Kreme is one example. Around here Krispy Kremes were popping up all over the place. Now, not a single one exists any longer. They tried to blame it on the "low-carb" diet fad but in the end, it came out that they some questionable accounting practices and that was their demise - not a diet fad. Greed was their demise. Instead of weathering a diet fad, pricing donuts cheaper to lure customers greed took ahold and the padding of the books to keep outrageously inflated stock prices up took precedence over basic business of supply,demand and flexibility and they paid the price for that.
portscanner wrote: .....Too many people tend to forget a very simple rule of life: Things change. Unless you change with it you will be in for a rude surprise... As long as we live in a free country, and thank God that we do, the law of supply and demand will prevail. As long as we demand RV's, someone will supply them. What features they will have, what fuel they will use, what they will look like? Only the future will tell. I look forward to those new companies with their new ideas.
Portscanner has made an excellent observation, IMHO, one applicable to many industries, and to many topics discussed here.
topflite51 wrote: The last couple of posts sound like Basic Business 101, who would have thought it on RV.Net. So refreshing.
Topflite51 is was so good I covered "trends" and how important it is to monitor them and how important they are to our company in specific at the weekly management meeting. There was even some taking notes.
I was exciting I had something to add for a change that was Basic Business 101 (really it was more like 501). Facts that apply to any and every business are so important to understand.
I am not in disagreement with what portscanner said and what he said was well put...
but after reading it, it felt hollow, and seemed to lack commitment to anything but self... as if the bottom line is the only thing... I don't buy that... as important as it is, taking some loss can and often produces income through good customer relations, and excellent service cometment... community participation and community commitment always comes off the bottom line but improves reputation and indirectly the bottom line...
looking back at history, and looking foreword are fine, but taking risk, also pays off big...
should Ford have stopped building trucks 30 years ago, heck no, should they have cut production, no, absolutely not for almost every one of those years they were a leader in sales and subsidized the smaller popular cars of the last 9 months... under the conditions that existed could they have changed their product fast enough... I doubt it... Toyota's ride to the top in the tundra didn't hit a speed bump, like ford and Chevy it hit a wall...
this isn't and no one has convinced me this is markets at work... this is market manipulation at work and it has and still will have far reaching effects... yes demand was/is high, but supply was equally high also, finished product never hit low let alone critical levels... this bubble didn't happen, it was created and inflated through OTC sales...
the banks, and builders problems aren't a result of free markets, but greed and easy money, often misleading would be home buyers, and buyers just taking the only shot they had at home ownership...
free markets and free trade are good, but free markets and free trade can only work for all if there is fair markets and fair trade...
I won't even get into the political end because that really gets me going...
Love my mass produced, entry level, built by Lazy American Workers, Hornet
cynda wrote: I heard from one manufacturer that another one has bonds due in September and they aren't going to be able to cover them. Anybody want to take a guess. Hint- it's a biggy
C-mon - that's all over the internet! - get at least 3 Spam e-mails a day on that one.
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