Hard to believe, but according to the learned folks at the National Bureau of Economic Research, the economy's been in recovery since June 2009.
Unfortunately, a big reason for the stagnation so far has been, well, you. Tons of people--71 percent, says a recent survey by Discover Small Business Watch--are waiting for economic indicators to rise before they're willing to hire and spend.
But waiting around is ill-advised, maintains Eric Jackson, innovation specialist and VP of research and development at Gap International, a global management consulting firm in Philadelphia. "The world is screaming for innovation, and companies can capitalize on the resources they already have to spark the next possibilities."
Which brings us to some good news: Some of you are already on it. Resource constraints are stimulating great business practices, and the survival rate of new ventures in some sectors is on the upswing. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) found that a mere 1.4 percent of minority-owned businesses closed down last year, compared with 2.9 percent in 2008; and Sageworks, a North Carolina-based research firm, says that small-business profit margins are at a five-year high (6.2 percent on every dollar of sales) because of savvy cost-cutting practices. Hiring may have stalled, but guess who'll be first in line to scoop up new employees when revenues pick up.
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So forget about the dire predictions about double-dip recession, dismal unemployment and the drop-offs in entrepreneurial activity in favor of this idea: Since the financial crisis laid waste to business as usual, the world is brimming with potential. The economic future will be populated by the movers and shakers, who even now are poised for greatness.
Just ask Socrates, who doled out this gem more than two millennia ago: "Let him that would move the world, first move himself." --J.W.
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