Global Economic Downturn or Greatest Entrepreneurial Opportunity of this Millennium?

It certainly looks like we are going through really difficult times on a global and to a lesser extent a national scale. What seems to be real doom and gloom for some is in fact the greatest opportunity that has come the way of entrepreneurial thinking people with vision. If you are willing to make the shift and be one of the people that are able to see this economic turmoil as the perfect storm for entrepreneurship, you will look back in 20 to 30 years’ time and fondly remember these challenging economic times as the greatest window of opportunity for any entrepreneur. It is over the next few really challenging months (18 – 24), that the great entrepreneurial thinkers will begin to shine and the wildly successful companies that will lead the way tomorrow will be born.
I have no crystal ball, which I spend my days gazing into, that is allowing me to make these accurate predictions. Are you aware that 16 out of the Dow 30 companies were started in a recession or even a depression, companies that like Johnson & Johnson, Proctor & Gamble, General Electric, McDonalds and even Disney that are now market leaders? All these companies were tiny entrepreneurial start-ups at one point, are now behemoths within their respective industries. There has never been a better time to make the choice to set your entrepreneurial thinking free and to explore new opportunities.
There is a massive shake-up occurring and the decks around who holds the capital are being rearranged and shuffled. The global financial crisis and economic downturn has most certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons and disrupted the status quo. It is these very disruptions and challenges that offer the greatest opportunity for new clear thinking entrepreneurs. During the sunny times, when everything is running smoothly, it is difficult for any new entrepreneurial enterprise to penetrate a new market or to really stamp their mark on any industry. During challenging times and economic turmoil, the playing fields are levelled and new opportunities are up for grabs, if entrepreneurs are willing to identify all these great opportunities that abound and grab hold of them with both hands. Industry is giving birth to the new market leaders right now; these are the people that are willing to allow themselves to search beyond the obvious, to explore the limits of possibility and to set their entrepreneurial selves free. You could be one of these remarkable people.
The very challenges that this global economic downturn has created are the very fuel that great entrepreneurs feed upon. The huge amount of challenges that need to be solved are the very catalyst that will ignite the entrepreneurial spirit in many new entrepreneurs and trigger new ideas and concepts that do not even exist today. The entrepreneurial people that are willing and able to create the solutions to today’s challenges, will become the beneficiaries of great rewards and will become the new leaders of tomorrow.
The final benefit of the current economic turmoil, which can be exploited by entrepreneurial thinkers, that are able to think beyond the obvious, is that everything is on sale. It is far cheaper for anyone entering the market to equip, build and market their new business. Suppliers are more flexible and open to new ideas and places to sell their goods and services, there is a huge pool of untapped talent waiting in the unemployment lines, waiting for the opportunity to work with exciting new companies with new big ideas.
There has never been a more opportune time to look around you and to try to see all the wonderful opportunities that are available to entrepreneurs. Stop looking around and seeing only doom and gloom, open your mind and see these challenges as opportunities to expand and grow, opportunities to find solutions to life’s current challenges and you can be one of the people that rides the wave of this current recession and becomes one of the leaders of tomorrow.
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