Is It Time to Expand Your Business?

Should You Expand Your Business?

If current economic trends continue, there’s a strong argument for it.  Despite the generally negative perception of current economic conditions, there has actually been a net increase in the number of jobs in most of the United States.  And as usual, more employment means more buying, and therefore more business. Which also means more businesses are choosing to expand, even during these uncertain times.

The Numbers

According to statistics released by the Labor Department November 15th, unemployment has steadily decreased in three-quarters of US states in the past month, from 9.1 percent across-the-board to 9.0 percent. Granted, it’s not the biggest leap. But it’s an indication of how things have been going for some time now. The national rate has been steadily going down since April.

Increased consumer demand for goods and services has led to the creation of 80,000 net jobs since October. Pent-up demand has been named as a part of the reason for the steady recovery- after all, you could only delay dental work, car maintenance, or even vacations for so long. Automobile sales for instance, are the strongest they’ve been in two years.

The Other Side of the Coin

Of course, this is only a very small part of the story. Contrast the 80,000 jobs created with the 125,000 (minimum!) that would be needed to keep pace with national population growth, and you can see things may not necessarily be improving yet. Plus the statistics don’t say anything about job security, specifically.  Also, some states like California and Nevada have been particularly hard-hit by the recession. The extremely slow improvement in the job market also means consumers are more conservative about their purchase decisions. Pent-up demand certainly can’t account for doesn’t apply to everything, especially items perceived as non-essentials.

Many new graduates now find a lack of jobs that match their skills

Those statistics also say nothing about the huge disparity between the existing skills available in the current workforce, and the current demands of the job market. Businesses everywhere are hiring- they just can’t find the right people. The high expense of higher education and the general shift towards more jobs that require advanced credentials has resulted in this chasm between available skills and current demands. Small businesses, which provide the most jobs, have been hit particularly hard. If you’re hiring, you might still expect a tough time getting people whom you really need.

Why Grow Bigger?

Despite these challenges, there’s really a lot of opportunity to be had. Any time more people have jobs, it’s normally a good thing. If you take a look at the news, it can be difficult to be optimistic. But we have to remember that there’s an election next year, and this sort of negative news sells.

We’re pretty good at making the most out of really bad situations. New business models better suited to the market will always emerge out the roughest economic conditions. We’ve personally seen it happen in this recession. The ones who adapt early will normally be in a much better position than those who wait.

So should you expand your business? It  depends if you think it’s  waiting around for things to improve is the better choice.