Making Money in a Shaky Economy

The last four months have seen a steep downturn in sales of Moneylender.  I asked my bank how business has been lately, and they noticed their branches were oddly silent in August.  Many of my fellow business owners described an eerie quiet lately.  This is by no means conclusive proof of an economic slowdown, but I did review some government metrics that are showing those signs.

In the mid 00’s, defaulting mortgages put a quick end to the easy-to-get mortgages for underqualified borrowers from previous years.  Slowing home sales eventually pulled down the global economy.  Moneylender sales seemed a bellwether, as sales slumped dramatically from 2006 to 2009.  While the lending market languished, so did Moneylender.

While many industries stuttered and shrunk, I saw other industries flourish in a way that sparked my imagination.  As foreclosures soared, drive-by appraisers went into action.  The rental market took up some of the slack in housing demand.  Services that provided support for existing investments were fortified aa growth-related services receded, billing and accounting strengthening over home construction, for example.

What tools do we find lying around us, waiting to be picked up and used for profit and productivity?  Within each of us is a tremendous imagination, a problem-solving mechanism with decades of observations of the world about us.  When the world takes a turn down a new and unfamiliar road, it is our opportunity to branch out into some new adventure.

For me, I have observed several things that present a great opportunity where I live.  I worked for many years alongside a property management company.  I rented my house in Arizona to several wildly different tenants over a span of five years.  I have been doing the taxes for my own businesses and other organizations for years including LLCs, Corporations, and 501c3 nonprofits.  I have arranged contracts for all types of agreements, and revised them through experience.  I have negotiated contracts with state government.  I talk about money with almost everyone, and I’m not even a little bashful about bringing up the subject of how much I make or discussing someone’s finances with them.  I have talked to Moneylender customers for fifteen years, learning about exotic partnerships, yields, deals, pitfalls, regulations.  I lost most of my business, my home, more money than I could afford to lose, and $40,000 of a friend's money (along with that friendship).  But I did it with my eyes open.  That pain and humiliation transmuted slowly, and with great effort, into cautiousness, prudence and planning.

I remember the trepidation I felt when I was about to propose to my wife.  I had the place, the time, the ring box bulky in my pocket.  As we walked along the shore of a small lake atop a mountain at sunset, my heart racing as hundreds of iridescent blue dragonflies skipped along the damp stones at the water’s edge, the sun burning deep orange across the lake.  I wanted the moment to be perfect and all I could think was “Now?  Now?  Now?”  Then I realized the answer was yes, now!  I turned to my girlfriend and asked her to spend the rest of her life with me.  She said yes!  We celebrated nine years of marriage in May.  It is the very best decision I have ever made.  When things line up, it’s time to take the action.

You, too, have an interest in business and investing – you wouldn’t be reading this little article on a fairly unnoticed blog if you didn’t.  There’s some pet project of yours that has been rattling around your thoughts like a stone in the surf on a beach – your mind ceaselessly, patiently working it into a perfectly polished plan.  If the economy leaves you in a position to make a bold new step, take that idea and put it decisively into action.

Fortune favors the bold.  Carpe diem.  The reward will be worth the risk.  Tell us about your experience, your project, or your success in the comments!

And if your project involves lending money or managing loans from other people, use Moneylender Professional to service your loans.  It’s very affordable, full-featured and easy to get started.  Thanks for reading!