The Way Out...

So, recently "my kind" have been sitting around the campfire (or, more likely, the bar), discussing the state of the business. Sooner or later the conversation always comes round to "when will the market return to what it was?"

And no matter how much experience is sitting at that table, no matter how much we know, the discussion comes around to a component we cannot deny or impact--the state of the retail market.

We are tied it it, inexorably. It shapes the view of our clients just as it shapes our own. As it moves forward, we follow. If it is in decline, we follow it down the rabbit hole. It's successes are ours, its failures too.

No matter how clever we think we are, or how much we profess to know about the mechanics of the business, it is the tide of retail that determines our own buoyancy. We must be mindful of the force and direction of that tide as we make our way.

There are some signs in the marketplace that retail is recovering. Faint signs, to be sure, but positive ones. And the rest of us are hoping that little spark turns into flames of business for us.

It's a structural component of our market that as retail goes, so we go, even if it's several months after the fact. We need them to create a positive vibe in the hearts and minds of our end-users.

Without a healthy retail market there is less enthusiasm for our business, less excitement about new products and less "want to have" by prospective program participants.

Let's hope that light we see down the tunnel is indeed the end of it, not another oncoming train...


Pete