Cordt Akers
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Cordt Akers commented on Preserve Cash and Earn Profits in a Downturn on June 19, 2009, 6:48 PM
Glocer's best piece of wisdom was the last one: Do not make equal across the board cuts when reducing budgets. I agree. When money is tight, the extras have to go. I do this in my household. Painting the bedroom can wait, the broken water heater can't. But you probably have to be more careful in business. For example, I would probably cut the advertising budget a bit and keep up the level of customer service- if my business is already well established. If my company is well-known, like Reuters, I don't need as many ad campaigns- everyone in the field knows Reuters. Keep your current customers happy- they'll stay. Of course if your a new, unkown group you would try the opposite strategy for obvious reasons. I hear alot of people complaining about the customer service from banks- the banks need to look into this-quickly. The competition is fierce in that industry. Bank A gives me a hard time? I take my money across the street to Bank B- very easily done.
Cordt Akers commented on Thomas Cooley: How Do You Succeed In Business During a Recession? on June 10, 2009, 6:09 PM
A great observation was made by Cooley when he spoke briefly about the many the high-risk mortgages being given out in the past decade. I used to see ads for multi-million dollar homes and hear about the bidding wars people went through to buy them. I always wondered "Where are these people getting all this money from?" Now I know. They didn't have it. The current high foreclosure rate is proving this. On a human level, I feel that we now need to help these people- we have that responsibility as a caring, compassionate people. I'm just wondering what the lenders where thinking when they made these loans. Were they aware of what might happen? Government will have to be more involved in the future to be sure this does not happen again.
Cordt Akers commented on Lenny Mendonca: Will Big Government Change The Rules Of Commerce? on June 10, 2009, 5:41 PM
"The New Normal"- Does this mean that the current increase of governmental intervention will continue as the economic crisis continues or pull back, as conditions, hopefully, stabilize? Mixed feelings here about this. Big business has been saying "get off our backs" for centuries. Was this current crisis a result of the Bush "laissez-faire" attitude? Now government is saving businesses from complete failure. I have no problem with this. But, as things improve, will the practices that caused the problems return? I think a new balance will have to be reached. Government and business working together to prevent more problems might have to be a permanent arrangement.
Cordt Akers commented on Tom Stemberg: How Do You Succeed In Business During a Recession? on June 10, 2009, 5:03 PM
I remember when generic brands first came in to stores. My response was mixed. Some of the products were equal or even better than the name brands. The discussion about generics has always been this: Does the company that is making the generics actually make all their own products? Probably impossible. Many people assumed that the generic was just the left over or the " slightly imperfect" item from the big brand companies. I still do not know. It's probably a mixture of both. I buy generic cereals, garbage bags, cookies, soap, shampoo and some health care products like aspirin and hydrogen peroxide- I find them to be of at least equal quailty to the brand names. My concerns are more about generic drugs. How strictly does the FDA monitor them? One thing I'm sure about: more people are going to be buying generics during these tough economic times.
Cordt Akers commented on Winning Strategies For Business Sustainability on June 19, 2009, 7:17 PM
Not surprising at all- the companies that took steps to comply with carbon regulations have more confident and dependable shareholders. People care about the environment and about air quality laws. Putting off the modernizations and complaince will only hurt a car company or any other company. If customers and investors hear that the company went to court to get compliance extensions or exemptions, they get scared off. Rightly so- there could be a loss of consumer confidence in the product if denials and fines are given out. The Al Gore debate aside, eco-friendly car and utility companies get more customers."Being Green" is now in our national conscience.