I was shocked when I saw the empty windows!
I shoe-horned the Mercedes into a typically small parking space in the indoor multi storey car park and we walked through to the shopping centre. We were greeted with the delicious smelll of freshly ground coffee as we enjoyed the view from the third floor above the main atrium and we proceeded down to the ground floor.
It looked like a normal day in town, there were people going about their business and the ‘open air’ coffee shop seemed to be doing good business. However as we walked around I could see quite a few shops had succumbed to the credit crunch; indeed I had heard about one or two in the local paper over December and into the New Year.
However as we walked further, I was aghast at the number of shops that were empty! Shops in premium positions were empty and the part of the centre that swept around in a small loop circling an open plan food and drinks cafe was devoid of any activity at all. Closed doors and empty windows was all I could see, except for one tatty little sweet shop.
The only store that seemed to have survived was a sweet shop that sold old fashioned sweets out of big jars. I did the right thing and pulled my wife in there and we gave the shop keeper our custom as nostalgia took the better of me. Three jars were brought down from the shelves to fill white paper bags with my selections – just like when I was a kid (yummy).
I was clearly oblivious to what is going on out there! I work at home in own office, with cups of tea on hand at my beck and call, phone at the ready and pictures of my family, my friends and the best cars and high performance gliders all over the place. To me running a thriving business from my computer keyboard, everything seemed as good as it had always been. The internet is buzzing, my business is growing and I’m kept really busy – perhaps this is where the growth is these days. Let’s face it I personally buy everything over the net, so perhaps that’s what the bulk of people are doing.
If I’m buying clothes, I like to go to the store and try them on so that I know they fit me and that I am going to look great. So why go to town to buy things that you can more easily research and buy on the internet – which will be delivered right to your door the next day! If I’m going out, I want to go to a nice place for lunch, go cycling or go gliding for the day.
So it seems that the world is changing, that business is changing. I would say that there has never been a better time to be an ‘Internet Entrepreneur‘. If so much trade and business is turning to the internet rather than the high street and office blocks, there has got to be a massive opportunity for all kinds of people – whether it is selling products, selling services or offering other kinds of supporting service. It’s time to wake up and realise that a whole new marketplace, a whole new industry, a whole new world is born and thriving in the virtual world that we recognise as ‘The Internet’.
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It’s been ages since I visited Cambridge. Last time I was there it was thriving so it was quite a shock for me to read about it. I’m also cocooned at home in my office and it brings it home to me just how fortunate we are.
Great read thanks!
Hi! The free eBook ‘7 Pieces Of The Attraction Marketing Puzzle‘ is excellent and helpful for people who want online income.