At the risk of sounding like I am channeling my inner Jean Dixon, here are a few of my predictions for 2012:

  • The world economy will have another significant setback in 2012 sparked by disappointments about the pool of candidates for the US Presidency, a few large scale unsettling scandals, increased unrest in the Middle East, and major corporations continuing to hang onto their cash.
  • More Baby Boomer business owners will move past the inertia of 2009 – 2011 to acquire, merge, or sell their businesses.
  • Google’s purchase of Motorola will pay off as APPLE’s growth slows.
  • Since the days of Nostradomus in the 1550s, this year has been the focus of doomsday thinkers.  Unfortunately, too many people will over-react with each natural disaster in 2012.
  • The transition of leadership in North Korea, the instability in Iran, and the nuclear capabilities of both will increase in importance in 2012.
  • The “War on Childhood Obesity” will gain momentum in 2012 as more schools embrace Rachel Ray’s menu and First Lady Michelle Obama’s advice.

A few may seem obvious to you.  A few may seem uninformed or just wrong. If my predictions prompt you to think, this blog has provided a service to you. I wonder what impact these and other developments could have on your business strategy and contingency planning for 2012. Should you conclude that you should be the bold acquirer or a reluctant seller? Will you increase your emphasis on wealthy or impoverished people?  Knowing that true wealth has always been traced back to times of stress and recession, will you be an industry leader or drop below the radar?  Does your executive team need to do anything different to prevent your company from becoming too reactive in 2012?

 

Aldonna R. Ambler, CMC, CSP has earned the right to be called THE GROWTH STRATEGIST™. She has won over 2 dozen national and statewide “entrepreneur of the year” awards for the resilient growth of her international businesses across 4 recessions.  Her midsized BtoB service, technology, and distribution clients get on…and then stay on…the published lists of the fastest growing privately held companies. Ambler is in the process of launching her 8th enterprise. All of her current service businesses (strategic planning, executive advisory, growth financing, talk show, speaking, and search) help privately held midsized companies achieve accelerated growth with sustained profitability®. 2012 is Ambler’s 8th year hosting a weekly peer-to-peer-to-peer syndicated on line talk show that features interviews with CEOs/Presidents of midsized companies (typically between $20 and 200 Mil/yr) sharing success tips about the growth strategy-of-the-week. An archive of over 300 interviews is available at www.TheGrowthStrategistShow.com. She can be reached toll free at 1-888-Aldonna or at Aldonna@AMBLER.com