You think we’ve got it bad here in the United States?  You think the recession feels like the end of life as we know it?  Do you think this is as bad as it can get?

Hogwash!

We’ve got it made in the USA!

Hard work and intelligence go a long, long way in this country.  This is truly, absolutely and without doubt THE land of opportunity.  Unfortunately, it’s also the land of complainers and whiners.  We’re spoiled.  We have an extremely high standard of living, ready credit (even now!), free primary education, tons of governmental services, social safety nets, and opportunities every where.  Yet, most of what you hear these days is doom and gloom.

I just got back from the Caribbean, Panama and Costa Rice.  I can tell you from personal observation that we are very, very lucky to be in the USA.  The fine folks living in Central America do not have the infrastructure, markets, education, credit or opportunities we enjoy here in the USA.   It’s not even a comparison!

Yet, all I hear these days is how bad things are, and how people are suffering.  We’re suffering?  Really?  Tell that to 90% of the World’s people.  THEY are suffering.  WE are just feeling sorry for ourselves.  I know people have lost jobs and income in this country, but we have it GREAT here compared to what the rest of the World has to endure.

If you want to end the recession, then GET MOVING.  Stop waiting for Congress (which helped to screw this up in the first place!) to solve our problems.  If you own your own business, grow it faster.  Hire more workers.  Order more materials and parts.  If you manage business operations, get better at it.  Do something to make your operations better and better and better.  Get better every day, and your business will grow.  You’ll have to hire more workers.  You’ll create more jobs.  And, you’ll make more profits.

If we all stop listening to the bad news, the media will stop reporting it.  So, turn off the TV and stop reading Yahoo’s news on line.  Instead, get busy!

92% of us are employed.   Interest rates are still incredibly low.  Credit is hard to find, but you can still find credit or credit substitutes.  Try building strategic partnerships and alliances in lieu of financing.  Consider trades and exchanges with other businesses.  Talk to your customers, clients, vendors, suppliers, employees and even your competitors.  You never know where you’ll find opportunities. . .  especially if you’re not looking.

So, stop worrying.  Stop complaining.  And start making it happen.  The sooner we all get busy, the sooner the recession will end.

Two weeks ago, I was sitting on a beach, looking out across crystal clear blue Caribbean waters with the sun about three hours from setting.  That’s when I noticed this pelican fishing.  Pelicans are large birds, so it takes some effort to lift off, clear the ocean’s surface and fly nearly straight up 50 feet or so.

The pelican slowly drifted in flight a few yards, searching for fish just below the surface, 50 feet in the air, and then the pelican folded in its wings to its sides, and would dive straight down to the ocean.  It torpedoed into the water, using its beak to stab at and capture a meal of fresh fish.

Amazing.  I watched that bird for nearly an hour.  It must have made 15 dives while I was watching.

What in the World does this story have to do with business?

You need to be “pelican like” in your business operations.  I know, I know. . .  we’re in a recession.  You have to watch cash flow.  You can’t afford to make mistakes.   Blah, blah, blah.

What was your excuse when we weren’t in a recession?  Frankly, you can’t afford NOT to take risks.

Too many businesses are too passive in exploring growth opportunities or bettering existing operations.  In a recession or in good times, you’ve got to be calculating, smart and aggressive.  Sometimes, you’ve got to go for it, just like a pelican diving for a meal!

You can be smart and aggressive.  You can take calculated risks.  Sometimes, a pelican dives but misses the fish.   Sometimes, businesses take chances that don’t work out well.  However, doing the same thing over and over without innovation, calculated risk taking and determination leads to slow deaths, for pelicans and businesses both.

Virtually every successful entrepreneur had several failures before their first success.  Then again, successful entrepreneurs understand the art of being “pelican like.”

What are you doing this week to catch more fish?

If you run a business, you need a vacation.  In fact, you need to take a vacation regularly.  And NOT just a vacation to “recharge your batteries.”  I’m talking about a great vacation that makes both your personal life and your business life better.

Here’s what I did on my recent vacation and how my experience can help you as a business person.

Rule #1-   Do NOT try to “get away from it all.” 

DO take your cell phone.  Do check your email.  Do call into the office.

It’s hard to relax on vacation when you’re stressed out about your office, missed calls, office emergencies, clients or customers looking for you, etc.  The notion that we have to separate our business life from our personal life with a “Chinese Wall” is completely ridiculous and completely unrealistic.  If you feel better while on vacation by checking in with your secretary, assistant or manager a few times, then do so.  Don’t WORK, but do check in a few times.  You’ll have a better, more relaxed and fun vacation, if you know that you’ll return home and not have to face a catastrophe.

Rule #2-   Eat well.  Exercise.

Vacations are  a time to replenish, refocus, re-establish and renew.   That applies to our minds, bodies and souls.  Our hectic lives at home wear us down and wear us out.  We fall into bad eating habits and exercise routines.  You can stop those bad habits and establish new ones during vacations.  In fact, establishing good habits is really the best thing you can do on vacation.

I just returned from sailing through the Caribbean, and time in Panama and Costa Rica.  I always wanted to sail through the Panama Canal.  Now I have!  It was fun, adventurous and relaxing.  And, I ate well.  There are no fast food or drive-thru restaurants in the mountains of Costa Rica or along the Panama Canal.  I ate locally cooked rice, beans, chicken, plantains, etc.  Normally, I try to cut out caffeine during vacations, but I wasn’t going to pass up fresh coffee served at the haciendas in Costa Rica.  I did refrain from processed foods almost entirely, and I exercised.  Now my job is to get past the difficult first week back and stay on track to eat well and keep exercising.

Rule #3-    Read.  Something fun.  Something educational.

I read often at home and every day at the office, but there is always a growing stack of books and magazines by my bedside table.  Vacations allow me to read important business books and books of leisure.  I also read those magazines that have stacked up.  I read the magazines first, usually in the airport and in the plane.  I cut out the articles I want keep or read again.  Then, to lighten my suitcase, I throw away the other parts of the magazines.  I save the books for the beach!

Rule #4-   Come Home With Ideas.

Take some paper and a pen.  This is a time to reenergize and become motivated to be a better person and businessman (businesswoman).  You should outline ideas, hopes, concepts, aspirations, etc. that you’d like to accomplish when you return home.  Do NOT rewrite your business plan.  DO think about larger, exciting and interesting ways to come back from vacation and become better than ever.  Consider a few new ideas that you could implement when you’re back at it next week.  If you took the right books and magazines, you’ll have new ideas that excite you about the future of your company, firm or career.

And this Rule #4 applies to your roles as a father, husband, wife, daughter, girlfriend, friend, partner, etc.  This is not just about business.  I came home with ideas about being a better friend, father, son, brother, etc.

My financee and I spent hours on vacation talking about her law immigration law practice, our pending nuptials, and our future together.  We took a very fun “marriage workbook” with us, and had a blast going through it.  We talked about a wide range of topics, both personal and professional, and we came back ready to take on the World together.

Rule #5-    Make It Memorable

Have a great time.  Try doing something you’ve always wanted to try.  Maybe try white water rafting.  Or deep sea fishing.  Or, sailing through the Panama Canal.  Whatever it is, give yourself reason to remember how good it felt to reward yourself with time away from your routine and sources of stress.  Take a few vacation photos and tape them to your PC or desktop.  If you can remember your positive vacation experiences, you’ll remember that the routine stuff is worth it.  And, you’ll be more likely to take another vacation sooner than later.

Rule #6-   Follow Up When You Get Home

Now that you’re back, make the most of your vacation.  Schedule time on your calendar, or in your PDA or planner to follow up with things planned on your vacation.  Do these things:

• Do eat better.
• Do get better sleep.
• Do exercise.
• Do implement those business concepts, plans and goals.
• Review your notes and the magazine sections you kept.
• Do make changes in your personal life to feel more successful as a father, daughter, wife, etc. . .  and businessperson.

Here’s a final idea. . .  print a copy of this blog today, and put that copy in your favorite suitcase.  Tomorrow, schedule your next vacation.  Then, when it’s time to pack the suitcase, pull out and read this blog again.  Pack your magazines and books.  Get on the plane and start at the top with Rule #1.

Do these things, and your business will benefit tremendously.

The current recession started with a crisis in the real estate market, and the solution, in large measure, remains tied to the real estate market.  However, there are three problems with the massive stimulus plan Congress passed, as it relates to housing.

First, the current stimulus plan limits the $8,000 tax credit to first time home buyers.  Those buyers are in the lower end of the housing market.  So, there is no direct stimulus for middle to upper-end home buyers, who tend to buy larger and more expensive homes.  It made no sense for Congress to stimulate demand for the lower end of the housing market and essentially ignore the other portions of the housing market.

By offering a tax credit to all home buyers, not just first time buyers, Congress would provide needed stimulus for the entire residential real estate industry.

Secondly, Congress failed to account for the fact that all real estate markets are not alike.  Some areas of the country are suffering more than others.  Southern California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada have horrible real estate troubles.  California has seen a drop of nearly 75% in home values in particular areas of that state.  Supply in those markets is out-pacing demand.  There are too many homes, and too few buyers.

In Indiana, we have not suffered huge drops in values, because values here were never over-inflated.  The fall in Indiana property values has not been so deep, because the rise in values was not as high over the past few years.

We need a program that accounts for the differences in local real estate markets across the country.  Congress should establish a formula for determining what constitutes “excess” housing supply for a particular market.  For example, Congress could determine that a normal amount of housing inventory is five months of home sales, on national average.  Then, Congress could provide greater buyer incentives for those markets with excess inventory (greater than five months of inventory), until housing supplies have dropped to a “normal” level.  This would enable Congress to direct more aid to those markets in greatest need.

Thirdly, there is a difference between stimulating the sale of existing homes and stimulating demand for new home construction.  In Marion County, Indiana, we have too much housing inventory.  We need incentives for home buyers to purchase existing homes.  We do not need incentives for new home construction.  By contrast, housing inventories in the surrounding counties are much lower.  Arguably, Hamilton County, Indiana is seeing a housing shortage.  So, new home construction should and could be stimulated in those counties that do not have excess inventory.

What’s the first rule of selling real estate?   Location, location, location.  Congress has ignored that basic principle.   All real estate is not the same, nor are all real estate markets the same.

Are there any solutions in development?

Sort of.

Indiana Congressman Dan Burton is going to co-sponsor the Homebuyer Tax Credit Act, H.R. 1245.  The goal of the bill is to stimulate the entire housing market by offering a $15,000 tax credit to individuals who purchase a home in the next year.  The amount of the tax credit would be $15,000 or 10 percent of the purchase price, whichever is less. Purchases must be made within one year of the legislation’s enactment, and the tax credit would not have to be repaid.  The bill, if passed into law, would replace the current $8,000 housing tax credit.

H.R. 1245 would address some, but not all of the concerns I have expressed in this blog.

What are your thoughts on the subject?  Post your comments.

The White House will provide billions of dollars in federal lending aid for small business owners. 

Finally!

The effort will be announced Monday and reportedly will include $730 million from the stimulus plan that will go to reduce small-business lending fees and increase the government’s guarantee on some Small Business Administration (SBA) loans to 90 percent. The government will also try to boost bank liquidity with more than $10 billion for the secondary credit market.

President Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will announce the new efforts Monday.  The US Chamber of Commerce supports the new efforts.

With income taxes set to rise significantly on small business owners in 2011, small businesses need all the help they can get.  Small businesses in need of capital are hurting, even though it is the small business community that creates most of the jobs and stimulus in our economy.  Republicans have lobbied the White House hard in recent weeks to shift more of the stimulus plan money away from big projects and large institutions and toward small businesses.

The amount of SBA guaranteed loans has dropped in the past year from $20 billion to just $10 billion.  That is clear evidence that credit available for small business development is much harder to find today.

When details of the plan are announced Monday, I’ll add another blog post to comment and explain.

I don’t like to “copy and paste” content from other business thinkers into my blog.  I do borrow, meld, mix and reshape ideas I learn from other people, but try to add some original thought in everything I write and say.

Here’s a rare exception.

If you care about small business or our economy, you have to read this blog post by Dennis Romero on Entrepreneur.com-

Entrepreneurs Not Feeling Stimulated