Often, when things are going well, we forget to consider the alternative. Yes, after good times, often, less than good times can follow. It's in these periods of great challenges that only the toughest and best equipped to handle adversity survive and then, thrive.

Many economists speak to our economy being very solid right now, and yet there are some major issues around the limited, to zero savings of millions. Enormous individual, corporate, and national debt. Right now, the US spends around $1 trillion per year simply to service our debt. Assume these are the "good times", now imagine paying this debt if our tax revenues fall 15-20%? The US is large enough to weather storms collectively and has done so many times before. Small countries have not fared as well. The recent massive lawsuits and ensuing settlements that the real estate industry faced showed how vulnerable smaller entities are within our profession.

What happens when a small entity is confronted with a bad market? Often they have to do one or many of the following:

1.  Seek capital to weather the storm, often at a high cost.
2.  Cut services, staffing, innovation, etc.
3.  Encourage all to accelerate the speed of everything, often at the expense of serving the consumer's best needs, more focused on their own needs and survival.
4.  It might even encourage some to become more competitive via deeper discounting or more negotiating on fees, thereby eroding profits even further. This is often a downward spiral that is usually a short-term infusion of capital. Deep discounting almost always erodes quality.

Being prepared for and equipped to handle tougher times is what you should be doing while times are good. Too often we only see how good the good times were in the rearview mirror.