A Crisis for the MTV Generation

So that was that. Crisis over. Phew.

Like the rapid fire editing on a music video we move from one situation to another. Boom this week, bust next. You would be excused for getting a headache if you read the papers regularly. If house prices aren't just about to collapse, they are just about to take off again. If the stock market isn't about to fall through the floor, it's just about to go through the roof.

This type of schizophrenic "wolf-crying" tends to dull the reality of the situation. Getting a clear picture of the nature of an event becomes harder and harder. Are we meant to batten down the hatches or throw open the widows?

For business owners planning for the future just gets a little more difficult.

I was talking to a lifelong Bank Manager to other day and asked him if there was one piece of advice that he would give to business clients what would it be.

Communication was his reply. Keep in touch with the bank and don't ignore the situation. "In difficult times" he recalled, " we would always look more favourably on clients who communicated regularly with us, gave us up to date information and didn't try to gloss over any problems".

Good advice in any weather.