“Recessions provide tremendous opportunities”

ENTREPENEURS: Recessions provide ‘tremendous opportunities,’ trends expert says

London Free Press, May 28, 2009

Recession or not, the future belongs to companies willing to adapt to rapid change, Jim Carroll, a trends and innovation expert, said in London yesterday.

Jim Carroll, speaking at the TechAlliance annual meeting yesterday, says smart businesses must look past the recession.

“Recessions provide tremendous opportunities for growth because everyone else is scared to do anything,” Carroll said at the annual meeting of TechAlliance.

Carroll, who grew up in London, is an author, columnist and speaker specializing in new trends and technologies affecting the business world.

He said even when the economy is being “pummelled by negativity,” smart businesses are looking past the recession for growth opportunities.

“Recessions are cyclical. I’ve seen this movie before. I know how it ends,” he said.

He said at least one billion people in Asia are entering the middle class, providing new markets for agriculture, technology and other sectors.

Carroll said global food production will have to double in the next few decades, boosting opportunities for agricultural areas around London.

He said health care, another major sector in London, would soon undergo a major shift toward preventative care, aided by genetic testing and diagnostics.

“We will know what you are likely to develop in your lifetime and we will treat you before you develop those conditions.”

He said medical care will enter an era of “bioconnectivity” in which expensive hospital beds will be replaced by remote technology allowing for care in the community or home.

Carroll said businesses have to adapt to a “high-velocity economy” driven by technological change. He said the shelf life of a digital camera model has shrunk to a few months while most of the sales on a video game are made within the days of release.

Carroll said business is entering an era of “pervasive connectivity” in which all industries will be transformed by smart communications technology.”Everything in our lives is plugging into everything else.”