In response to Covid, the federal government rolled out a number of programs to help stabilize the economy. The most well known was the PPP, or Payroll Protection Program of loans, most of which were forgiven, making them grants. PPP loans probably did protect payrolls and it certainly put a lot of money into business […]
Author Archive | david lightfoot
Are We Going to Have a Recession?
Are we going to have a recession? Of course, the only question is when. Here’s my prediction: It has already started. The statistics that will confirm this are a lagging indicator; we’ll learn this summer that it started in May. I wouldn’t be so sure but the Fed’s efforts to stop inflation seem to guarantee […]
Long-Term Clients
One of the most satisfying things about my consulting practice is the effectiveness of working with clients for a period of five years or more. I’ve got a number of clients I’ve worked with over five years, some over ten years. In the case of these long-term clients, we’ve been able to achieve much. That’s […]
If Government Just Worked
Many businesspeople love to complain about government, about how high costs are, how government is slow and inefficient, how government impairs the free market. You know the refrain. I feel a bit different. I’ve had my frustrations with government as we all have. But government has its place. There need to be laws and rules […]
Book Review: Predictably Irrational
This is not a new book, having been published in 2008. Sometimes I like to go back and read a book that has been around for a while, partially because I just want to, and partially I want to see whether the author’s premise has withstood the test of time. That’s why I usually wait […]
Book Review: The Power of Regret
Daniel Pink is one of America’s most successful writers, rivaling Malcolm Gladwell and Michael Lewis. I haven’t read all his books, but I have read Free Agent Nation, Drive, To Sell is Human and When. Every one of those I’ve read has been excellent and he continues his string of hits with his latest offering, […]
Happy New Year? The Bell’s Palsy Story
I entered 2022 with great hope that this year would be an improvement over the past two Covid-riddled years. Business was exceptionally good for me in late 2021, despite the Covid challenges, and I still haven’t caught Covid, although this damn Omicron seems like it is going to find us all eventually. But sometimes life […]
Book Review: The Radical Potter
This new book by Tristram Hunt, is a biography of Josiah Wedgwood, the Founder of the famous Wedgwood Pottery works, the maker of fine china for over 250 years. The book was published in fall of 2021. Even before the current Wedgwood company was founded, the Wedgwood family had been potters for over 200 years. […]
The Third Buyer
I have observed, in buying and selling businesses, an odd phenomenon. It is what I call, “The Third Buyer.” This refers to The Third Buyer becoming the successful buyer of a property or business. Here is how this goes down. The owner of a business decides they are ready to sell. It is an almost […]
Where Did Seven Million People Go?
Seven million is the number that has been put on the labor shortage currently in America. Every business I know is having difficulty finding skilled labor. Why? And why is this true for every industry and in every geography? Why are there so many unemployed while there are so many job openings? This is an […]