IF THE ECONOMY IS GETTING STRONGER, WHY ARE SO MANY BUSINESSES STILL STRUGGLING?

While the economy does affect business, it is usually not going to be the deciding factor in a company's success or failure. A business CAN advance no matter what the economic outlook.

According to the latest Federal Reserve reports, the economy is getting stronger and stronger every day. Productivity gains, tax cuts, and low interest rates are all positive signs. So now that the economy is on its way back up, businesses everywhere should also be seeing signs of improvement, right? Not necessarily," says Business Performance Expert Pamela Harper. While the economy does affect your business, a number of other factors could be holding you back."

For example, in the nineties, the economy was booming and the unemployment rate was at an all-time low. Even then, many businesses were closing their doors. Why? Harper asserts that in many cases, persistent organizational problems were to blame. Even with a booming economy, business leaders can inadvertently drive their companies into strategic gridlock," she says.

Gridlock happens for understandable reasons. In the ongoing drive to increase earnings, leaders are compelled to quickly develop and launch a variety of strategies and initiatives that take advantage of whatever opportunities seem most promising at the moment. And throughout it all, leaders must constantly confront and resolve a variety of unforeseen problems. The key is to prevent these problems from occurring in the first place," Harper says. No matter what the current state of the economy, a business will never move forward if its employees are forced to spend all their time simply trying to overcome internal issues."

Fortunately, strategic gridlock can be prevented. Through Harpers Preventing Strategic Gridlock® process, business leaders can bridge the gap between what should be happening and what is happening. If leaders can identify the condition in time, theres a greater chance for the company to move forward, no matter what the economy looks like."

Pamela Harper is a nationally known consultant and speaker and is the founder and president of Business Advancement, Inc. Her in depth knowledge of the impact of organizational issues on business growth is based upon 20 years of internal and external consulting to leaders of entrepreneurial, middle market and Fortune 500 Companies.

You can learn more about Harpers Preventing Strategic Gridlock® process in her book, Preventing Strategic Gridlock®: Leading Over, Under, & Around Organizational Jams to Achieve High Performance Results (Cameo Publications, $19.95, ISBN 0-9715739-4-8). For a review copy, please contact Paula Duncan at 1-866-372-2636 or send an email to paula@cameopublications.com.