I’ve just finished reading The Demographic Cliff: How To Survive And Prosper During The Great Deflation Of 2014-2019 by Harry S. Dent.
To take in a book like this you need to trust the author. While Dent has his critics, he has an excellent track record of success in predicting economic trends. The book itself is heavy with evidence supporting his prediction. It is hard to find a hole in the foundation he lays.
Whether you believe all the data Dent provides or not does not matter to the part of the book that is most relevant to business owners including small business owners like newsagents. In the chapter Business Strategies for the Winter Season, Dent provides wise advice that is relevant to all of us. He lays out what is important for us to focus on, what we must get right in our businesses. Each step, decision and strategy he proposes can work for us regardless of whether The Great Deflation occurs or not. This is the chapter I copies onto A4 so I could make notes and refer to it over time.
Many times I have written on this blog that we need to run our businesses as if the toughest competitor ever has opened next to our newsagency. It is hard getting in the headspace of a hypothetical situation. In The Demographic Cliff: How To Survive And Prosper During The Great Deflation Of 2014-2019, Dent provides statistics and other evidence as a means for getting into a headspace where we can see a possible / likely future – with a view to acting now to be stronger through the challenges.
If there was a newsagents book club, I’d propose this be our next book for discussion. Anyone in any leadership role with / for newsagents – such as association directors – should read this book.
If you plan to read this book, be sure to purchase an Australian published copy as it contains an introduction written especially for Australians. This was an excellent part of the book.
Agree. I have read this one and it is the most important “business”book I have read for years.