Being positive?
There was a moment during my interview with Professor Brian Lucey on the Bottom Line on Tuesday March 26th when I felt he wondered where the hell I was coming from with some of my questions !
The thought occurred to me as he was talking about the issue of impending mortgage default and how it was all going to come to a head in the not too distant future. I could tell he wasn’t looking forward to it.
I asked him was this “positive”?
There was silence.
For a second I wondered had I lost him off the phone line? There was silence. I wondered was it a stupid question.
He appeared to me to answer hesitantly.
Reading between the lines I thought he could have felt that how could the culmination of such a huge problem be considered anything like positive.
I thought to myself “I wonder did he get my implication that by ‘positive’ I meant it in the sense that the problem was crystalised, no matter how difficult the situation it was being addressed and we (the Irish economy) could move on rather than endlessly speculating how difficult it was going to be and how hard times were going to get.”
Then I thought that perhaps the way people in business view “positivity” is different from the way other people view positivity?
A few years ago I was at a business networking event of some sort and there was a public question and answer session. The talk was of the Governments latest “5 Year Plan” ie the latest wheeze about how we could get business./confidence/credit/employment moving (you know the type of plan). There was much talk on the subject by business analysts and some people who weren’t involved in the “tough and dirty” business of keeping an enterprise on the go during tremendously difficult times.
“Would anyone like to ask any questions about the Governments 5 year plan for recovery” came the enquiry from the stage of the event which was no doubt sponsored by a financial institution; a State backed business advisory service or whatever (you know the type).
The first question from the floor about the plan came from someone who runs a great business and who throughout the difficult times we’ve all endured has succeeded in continuing to grow their business and create employment.
“Why not aim to recover quicker than 5 years”? was the question. “If I was to leave my business recovery take place over a 5 year period I’d be out of business”
It’s like that for so many people I meet in business. No matter what the problem, attack it head on, be impatient to get things fixed and no matter how difficult things seem always seek the positive angle because ….. that’s how we roll …….
Now that’s what I meant by asking whether the coming to a head of the long running and much dreaded mortgage default issue would be positive.
And speaking of positivity we had lots of it on the programme
Margaret Harkin was working as a Store Manager for Paco in Kilkenny in February 2012 when she heard that the Company planned to shut up shop due to the economy. She had faith in the brand, in her staff and in the future and so she took the step of taking on the franchise; maintaining the employment and even opening Bloomingdays Maternity Store in the Market Cross Shopping Centre. 12 months on and she is up beat and optimistic about the future. She faced unemployment, didn’t like the prospect and is now running her own business. That’s positivity.
Also great was Samantha Rawson of the Canine College in Thomastown Co Kilkenny. A qualified canine instructor with over 20 years experience she is continuing to trade successfully, turning her passion for dogs into a business that sees her working all over the country. If you’ve got a dog and would like to learn more check out her website
And finally the availability of credit was a big theme on the show this evening. We spoke with of Peter O’Mahony CEO and founder of Linked Finance which facilitates loans to small and medium businesses via crowd funding. We also spoke with David Breen of David M Breen Chartered Accountants
Back in 2 weeks. Until then happy Easter …..
Regards
John
