BackSuccess Secrets | When a crisis is an opportunity
Success Secrets | When a crisis is an opportunity
PremiumWinning:Jack and Suzy Welch
(Jack and Suzy Welch)
Is the current mortgage crisis the beginning of the end for the US economy?
—Jacques Wullschleger, Florida.
Do you mean, is the sky finally falling? We wouldn’t blame you for putting your question that way, given the market’s volatility over the past few weeks. There has been a spate of high-profile bankruptcies involving US businesses, such as those at
No, we would only blame you if your question meant you were thinking of running for cover right now or, worse, hunkering down.Because for many individuals and companies, right now happens to be the perfect time to venture out—in fact, even to get aggressive.
Forget Chicken Little. Think “Holy cow!" That's what you'll be saying when you see the once-in-a-lifetime deals that are suddenly popping up all over the place, the strategic acquisitions that never seemed possible before and the warehouses of assets selling at massive discounts. Every economic, industry or business crisis inevitably spawns such extraordinary opportunities. You just have to have the foresight to be looking for them... and the guts to grab them. Look, we’re not saying you shouldn’t worry about the current unsettled environment. Two months ago, in this column, we ourselves noted that the era of low-cost money was swiftly coming to a close, and that there would certainly be painful consequences for many banks, private equity firms and individual investors.
But in our view, this credit crisis is just a financial-sector crunch, not an economic Armageddon. Like all cycles, this one will play itself out in several months or a year—two years at the most. Think of the savings-and-loan debacle in the 1990s, the Mexican peso devaluation in 1995, the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and the tech-bubble burst in 2000. All of those dislocations came, wreaked havoc and eventually got cleaned up by market forces with some form of government intervention.
Without question, that will happen this time around too, most assuredly because the underlying global economy is so fundamentally strong. Yes, it may be entering a period of slower growth, but thanks to record levels of economic interdependence and activity, it is more resilient than ever.
Which is why now is the perfect time to take the big swings. The rewards can be huge, even disruptive—in the best sense of the term. A case in point is Bank of America's (BoA) recent $2 billion (about Rs8,200 crore) investment in Countrywide Financial Corp., a leading mortgage banker that was facing a liquidity and credibility crisis. The deal not only delivered short-term paper profits to BoA, it allowed BoA to leapfrog its way into the mortgage business and opened the gateway to a flood of new deposits. In one fell swoop, BoA expanded its market share and enhanced its industry profile, basically changing its competitive position.
BoA, of course, is not a solitary example. The Japanese banking woes of the early 1990s gave numerous companies—including AIG, Ripplewood Holdings and Citigroup—a chance to pick up assets at attractive prices and enter a market that had long been closed to them. Those bets were made in a real doomsday-like environment. They also turned out to be big winners as Japan recovered.
Similarly, after the Enron blow-up, Warren Buffett was able to take a position in its pipeline business at a deeply discounted price—a deal with a surefire pay-off. General Electric, which Jack used to run, was also able to get a good price on Enron’s wind power assets, allowing it to jumpstart its alternative energy business.
Indeed, business history is filled with stories of perilous risks that turned out to be prescient. The point is, anyone can invest in a trend, just as hordes invested in the subprime housing market over the past few years. Such bandwagon investing is easy. What’s so much harder—but so much more rewarding—is investing in the wreckage of a trend that has been brought to a halt by its own excesses. Talk about a goldmine.
Now, obviously, no one in business savours a downturn. The personal cost is always too high. People can lose their jobs and their homes. Sometimes, they have to move or start again, or both. But, the one incontrovertible fact of capitalism is that markets ebb and flow. Industries contract and collapse, bankruptcies occur. Cycles happen. Most companies take advantage of the obvious opportunities.
That’s well and good. But the winners of tomorrow are often those who take advantage of every opportunity, including those that arise when—or because—the sky is falling.
Write to Jack & Suzy
Jack and Suzy are eager to hear about your career dilemmas and challenges at work, and look forward to answering some of your questions in future columns. Jack and Suzy Welch are the authors of the international best-seller, Winning. Campaign readers can email them questions at winning@livemint.com. Please include your name, occupation and city.
Only select questions will be answered.
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