Is there a silver lining

This recession has been a difficult one. Many companies large and small alike have not been able to make it, closing their doors, people loosing their companies, jobs or homes. The news is bad and often sad; leaving me thinking there must be something positive about this recession. Well I think I may have found some silver. We have been talking a lot to our existing clients learning from them how to continue to improve our service and we have been talking a lot to prospects finding ways to provide extraordinary service and value during these difficult times. The silver I think is that the businesses that come out of this recession are going to be better, stronger, smarter. The people we are talking to want information, wanting to know more about both their business finances and personal as well. This is great for us, as this is EXACTLY what we provide - information. Information through great bookkeeping and the analysis that helps to understand that information. Information about what costs what, what sells, who pays and when they pay, information about how long it takes to provide this service or create that product. When times were good people were not asking these questions they were asking “how much money did I make” a great question but not a question that we learn much from. How much we made teaches us nothing about why and what can we do to be better, stronger, smarter. Well answering these types of questions is exactly why I became an accountant and exactly why I have spent my career working to provide information to run businesses better. So for me there is definitely silver in these cloudy economic times, and I hope we can help our clients find their silver lining.