Everything Happens for a Good Reason

No doubt you have heard the old line “Everything happens for a good reason” at sometime in your life. Whenever things don’t go our way – that is the easiest way to reconcile what is happening…that it must be for some good reason. If you really believe that – and I do by the way, then you will have no problem applying it to the economic situation the car business is in today.

So before you try to have me committed to the nut house for saying that there are good things to come from this economic storm we are in – let me explain where I am coming from. Whenever something bad happens to me…I just remind myself that – even though I don’t understand it at the time – I am sure, positive in fact, that something good will come out of the bad situation. It always has in the past and I believe it will in the future.

For instance, when I went through a divorce it was the hardest thing I ever had to deal with. It was awful…but later I came to realize that it was the best thing in the long run. It was good that I married my first wife. If I hadn’t married her, I wouldn’t have my son. If I hadn’t divorced her I wouldn’t have met my second wife, I wouldn’t be as happy as I am now and I wouldn’t have my lovely daughter. So, even though it was a bad thing…it worked out to be a good thing and I always knew deep down knew that it would.

So, let’s apply that same principle to the car business today. It is bad that the credit market is screwed up. It is bad that car dealers are not selling as many vehicles and it is bad that some will go out of business…or is it? Many of the dealers that go out of business needed to go out of business…they weren’t running things like they should, they weren’t focused on customer retention, or customer satisfaction or doing what is right for the customer. Some dealers that go under will be better off because they will sell their property to companies that are looking to build retail shopping centers or other businesses. The ones that struggle through this and make it…will be better off too. They will be smarter, leaner, more aggressive, be more focused on retaining existing customers and watching expenses than they ever were before – and I don’t think they will ever forget this experience. There will be less competition due to the thinning of the herd and that will give way to growth and additional profits. So…in the end, that is a good thing.

Question is…where will you end up? If you lose your job, that’s bad, but when you find another one…a better one, which pays more and is a better place to work…then that is good, right? I will admit that I don’t like going through this tough economic challenge we are in…but I honestly believe with all my heart that it is the right thing and that it will deliver us in better shape than we ever would have been if it hadn’t happened. We all got a little too loose, a little too lazy and a little too crazy. We needed a reality slap in the face and like it or not – it is a good thing in the end.

Think I am crazy…call me. I will take any bad situation you have and turn it into a positive. No matter what happens…I know it eventually will result in a good outcome…you just have to be patient and keep the faith.