And now, the good news…
There is good news – really.
Small Business Good News…
The California Relief Grant has opened its last and final round of funding. If your sales in 2019 were less than $2,500,000, you can apply for grant amounts of $5000, $15,000 or $25,000. You have to be able to document 2019 revenue so if you cannot do that, it does not bode well.
Go to CAReliefGrant.com and complete the application before the end of the month. That’s when it goes away.
General Business Good News
GDP is expected to be 5.5% - the economy has not grown that much since before the Great Recession. Of course, we did take a serious punch this time last year when closures tanked the economy, but whether it’s making up for lost time or not, we’ll take it.
Corporate earnings are expected to jump 13% in 2022.
While the cost of borrowing will increase, it is still amazingly cheap. Prime is at 3.25%.
Remember when you would sometimes hear people say “I remember when prime was 15.2% in 1980”? Well, they’ve retired, so you won’t hear so much of that anymore.
They will be replaced by the folks saying “Do you remember when prime was 10% in 1990?”.
The point is, credit is still remarkably cheap, so use it.
Shipping costs are expected to fall; of course, they really went up this year.
Office and retail rent should be pretty flat, with the only increase being in warehouse.
What does this mean for you? 2022 should be a good year for sales; take advantage of the growth and run with it.
Good news on the Virus that shall not be named…
Average daily cases have dropped 10% since September 1.
This bodes very well for the holiday season.
Some states still have rising trends, but that’s not California, so as long as your selling and sourcing locally, you’re good.
Housing
This will be the best year for housing since 2006
Lumber prices are down from the highs experienced earlier this year
Vacancies are down so demand for homes remains strong
The Rest of the Story…
Reuben Klamer passed away on September 14 at the age of 99 in La Jolla. He served as a US Navy officer during WWII, tried the air cargo business and advertising businesses before recasting himself as an inventor of toys and games. In 1959, he approached Milton Bradley about a game to compete against Monopoly, with twisting paths instead of straight avenues, and using a spinner instead of dice. It was a massive success. His idea? The Game of Life. Of his own game of life in 2012, he stated that it “has been one rocky road after the other, and every once in a while I get a hit.”
Go out there and get some hits.
