People say newspapers are dying. The news tells us that the US auto industry needs money. Banks are on their way out, too.
Is it the economy? Is it advancing technology? Is it the lack of demand?
No, no and no. These business leaders were STUPID. They lacked the foresight to adapt with changing times. We get our news differently now. We buy cars based on mileage and low upkeep cost, not horsepower. Banks were just stupid enough to lend lots of money to people that had no prayer of paying it back.
What’s next is easy. Lead, not follow. Newspapers, go online. Go FULLY online and charge for your damn content. $5/week per subscriber isn’t too much to ask and you can sell ads to. Don’t moan that the internet killed your business, YOU killed your business by not changing when you should have.
Same goes for US automakers. Get rid of unions. Stop paying your workers what others would do for less. Business is about making money and you need to sell your product for less than it costs to produce.
Banks…well, I don’t have much advice for you. Perhaps you require larger downpayments. Maybe you don’t sell $300k houses to people making under $50k a year. Maybe you tie bonuses into overall company performance, meaning if the company’s profits tank, bonuses go with it.
Stop following. Start leading. There’s no penalty for being early, but there’s a huge price to pay for being late (thanks, Seth Godin).
Oh, please tell the music industry hello for me.
