Do you expect your business to pick up this fall?

The micro-economic implication of the results of this poll (as of today) suggests many of the businesses within the RI area are not seeing the change the rest of the country is. This is alarming. However, many business owners and advisors I have been talking to indicate the opposite. The results of this poll are not too different from the “Are you planning for the end of the recession?” poll conducted five weeks ago when only 40% of respondents said yes; they were planning for the end of the recession. In this new poll five weeks later where only 37% of respondents indicating yes, we see a light at the end of the tunnel; indications are that not much has changed. It is very disturbing to me that 37% of business owners think the economy is still contracting and 24% think we are doomed! Overall, the negativism far outweighs the optimism 63% to 37%.

Even the pessimists need to begin to prepare their businesses for tomorrow today. If they don’t, tomorrow may never come, or at best, it will be a long dark night.

Tom Stocker

Boardroom Advisory Group, LLC