I arrived at the airport parking lot to see the dark clouds moving closer. Before I could exit the car the lightening began to strike all around.  Not being a big fan of flying, I felt my anxiety level rise.   I scurried off to the terminal to get out of the downpour.

I quickly forgot about the threatening weather as I moved through the security line, then fumbled to get my shoes on, and looked up to read the monitor one more time in search of the correct gate number. Off I hustled, even though I was early; it just seemed the thing to do (stressed out).

Ah, I arrived at gate 16 at last,  it had to be the last one in the terminal.   I watched the planes come and go while the rain continued to increase in intensity. Well, I thought, that must be a good sign.  The planes are still flying in this weather. Then a voice over the intercom said, “flights to Southern California could be diverted because of extreme weather”.  “Extreme” sounds like “scream”.  Calm down Craig, you’re going to Vegas, it’s in the desert and the only extreme thing there is the heat and its January so this will be fine.

Wow, more rain out my window to the left but what’s that in front of me? The sun is beginning to sneak through the black clouds and then a full arching rainbow appears. Now that is the sign I was looking for. Just like that, the rain stopped and the voice on the PA system said its time for us to board.

It got me thinking that with all the doom and gloom surrounding this past year there must be a positive somewhere. And then it hit me smack in the face.  While businesses are making all kinds of decisions to help survive the recession how many have planned for the upside when the dark clouds have passed?

This is the perfect time to develop strategies to move your company ahead of the competition. Capitalize on the mistakes they are bound to make, so that you can gain market share.

This is the time to move forward and put into play the ideas that will serve your customer well and in turn deliver big dividends with the rainbow’s return.

Until next time…remember that it is always darkest before the dawning of a new day so be ready to shine bright.