The Online Investing AI Blog

It seems that the economy is the number one topic of discussion these days. Most people are blaming it for all of their financial problems. The news is full of stories about the negative effects of the terrible economy such as foreclosures and layoffs.

Maybe we are just die hard are optimists, but I noticed that my previous post entitled Falling Prices are the Bright Side of a Bad Economy was quite popular. So here are more reasons why the bad economy is actually good for us.

One reason that I touched upon in the previous post is the falling price of oil and gasoline. Not only does it make life easy for us at the pump, but it has a cascading effect throughout the economy. Most of the things that we consume are physical, and therefore require energy to be delivered to us. When oil prices are high, it costs more money to ship everything. And these cost increases can be seen in every physical product that we consume. It includes drinks, food, books, computers, and even cars. The good news is that as the cost of crude oil falls, the price of most of the other items in the economy falls as well.

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Business Strategy, Money, US Economy crude oil, customer service, depression, economy, energy, finances, foreclosure, gasoline, layoffs, recession

Have you heard of Richard Branson? You’ve probably heard of him, but don’t really know too much about him. That’s how I was before I read his book, Losing My Virginity
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This is one of the funniest, most entertaining and refreshing books that I’ve read in quite a while. It’s full of stories about how he built his businesses, and how he grew and developed himself into a billionaire. So far, he has started over 350 businesses.

What is really fascinating about the book is that it shows how he thinks. He is not afraid to share his failures and problems, right along with his successes. He also shows how his higher level of thinking is manifest into a business.

Virgin wireless is a good example. Have you ever felt ripped off and annoyed at your cell phone provider? If so, there’s a good reason. Most cell phone companies give you a “free” phone, and a two-year contract. People inevitably feel like a free phone is a great deal, and sign up. The net result is a booming cell phone business throughout the world.

But Richard noticed something. He noticed that most people are pretty dissatisfied with their cell phone carrier. He noticed that they’re tired of waiting forever to talk to customer service, and that they’re constantly being overcharged and mistreated.

So, he said, “I am going to start a cell phone carrier that does not have any contracts!” What a concept! Everyone around him told him that it’s impossible and that it won’t work. However, Richard did not let the nonbelievers sway him.

Virgin Mobile is the fastest cell phone provider right now. In fact, they just acquired Helio, which failed.

So the moral of the story is that Richard decided to change the rules and instead of just trying to make money at the expense of customers, he actually found a way to create value and serve them! His thinking and ways of doing business allow him to stand out far from the crowd.

What if every business, instead of trying to take as much money as possible from the customer, instead found ways of creating value for the customer? Would that change the world?

Business Strategy, Great Books, Online Investing AI business, customer service, Great Books, Richard Branson, Success, value creation