The Way Forward

I'm sure you've heard it over the past couple of months... "It's a great time to buy real-estate. Prices have to come up from here. This is as bad as it can get." I've heard it over and over again with other financial assets as well--bonds, stocks, loans…the list goes on. Isn't that type of attitude, that sense of infallible certainty, what got us into the crisis in the first place? It's easy to play Monday morning quarterback and start phrases of recollections with, “well, if I only had purchased _x__at _x_ price, I wouldn’t have to work…” Fact is, when push came to shove and the chips were down, you didn’t, and chasing after what you didn’t do yesterday is no way to gain success tomorrow.

The way forward has to be embodied in new thought, with a new vigor for finding the next 'big thing.' Think of it as putting your fingers onto the pulse of a trend and finding it before it is strong enough for the rest of the world to see. If, as you start probing, you begin to hear a couple of layers of objection- all the better, as it’s safe to say you have ventured beyond the realms of the proven and into true entrepreneurial risk. In that space, true vision becomes less empirical and more about what you can see that others cannot. There are areas of the world that afford this opportunity- there are emerging markets doing so well that they are clawing their way to "developed country" status. There are industries, nascent in the current state, which do the same. Combining the two taps into a viable idea in an area where it can flourish- allowing for a great synergy in today's economy. 6.5 billion people are searching for that next big thing. We are in a position to give it to them...