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Any guesses on the economy?

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"Let's wait and see how the elections go." ... anybody else running into this from their customers? ... I do NOT want this to turn into a political discourse – but I've got a serious business decision to make really soon ... as most of you know, I started my own business about three years ago ... the first year was GOOD – and then the economy went bust ... these last two years have been "adequate" ... we've been blessed with food on the table – and a roof over our heads – which is quite a bit more than some other folks are able to say these days ... we're very thankful for what we have ... but now it's time for me to sign (or not) another lease for my office/classroom space ... the way this works (at least around here) is that a commercial lease obligates me to pay for the real estate space for at least three years – WHETHER I STAY IN BUSINESS OR NOT ... so ... what I'm basically asking is this: does anybody out there have a crystal ball which is even slightly less-cloudy than mine? ... understandably there are very few corporate customers out there that are willing to talk about their financial standings – but the ones that are keep telling me basically the same thing: "Let's wait and see how the elections go." ... the implication is that if the Republicans win big in November, then maybe the companies can start gearing back up again ... BUT ... if the Democrats keep their current hold on both chambers of Congress – and on the White House – then don't look for any big corporate investments in the near term ... I've had quite a few corporate customers tell me lately: "Yes, Ron, we have students that need your training. Yes, we have training money in the budget. Yes, that money has been approved. BUT. Headquarters won't let us spend ANY money until the economy starts to improve." once again, I don't want this to turn into a "my-political-party versus your-political-party" type of thing ... my immediate dilemma is just trying to decide whether or not to sign a commercial lease and obligate myself to continuing in a business venture which depends to a great extent on whether or not corporations are willing to spend money on PLC training for their employees ... I'm almost 64 years old ... I dearly love what I do for a living ... I have absolutely no idea what I'll do if I have to move on to something else ... I'm still working with the landlord to keep some options open until we see which way the economic wind is going to blow ... but someday, and very soon indeed, I've got to make a decision – and the wrong decision could end up costing me a LOT more than I can afford to pay ... the good side is that I really only need four "corporate" students per month to make this thing work ... it sounds like that would be easy to do – and during my first year of self-employment it WAS easy ... but these days many (most?) companies aren't willing (or able) to spend the money ... so ... anybody out there got an educated guess as to which way the economic ball is going to bounce next? ... anybody else hearing the same "let's see which way the election goes" from their customers? ... I have wracked my brain – and I'm looking for any ideas that I might have missed ... any and all advice is EXTREMELY welcome – and please feel free to email or phone me if you'd rather not respond in public ... you can find me through the "Contact Us" page of my website at the link below ... thank you for reading this far ... Edited by Ron Beaufort

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For the past year or so, the bulk of my business has been coming from my cutomer's maintenance budgets rather than from their capital budgets. For the two largest capital projects I've been working on the end customers don't seem in any hurry to take delivery, probably because they have been able to fill whatever orders they have with their existing macinery. I have only one piece of evidence that the situation may be about to change. Last week I had a meeting with the controls manager of an OEM who is lining up resources to deal with an expected influx of new orders. He said that all of a sudden there is a higher level of quotation activity and they look serious. He cut his staff to the bone during the downturn and won't be able to handle the orders he feels are most probable with the people he has. If some of the less likely proposals he has out there turn into orders he'll be swamped. I'm getting the feeling there is demand building up in the pipeline but it hasn't yet reached critical mass. I'm thinking "wait until after the election" is less a political statement than an excuse to postpone making a decision. Whe I was doing PLC training for a distributor, we rented a meeting room in the local Holiday Inn Express for each session. If you could make an arrangement like that work for you, it could reduce your overhead. Edited by Steve Bailey

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IMHO, rental of the space either at hotels or small convention centers would be a good stopgap measure before throwing in the towel. If storage is a problem (and I have the same issues there, too.) a three month lease at a storage facility could hold your equipment until the horizon gets clearer. Our business is doing a flurry of quotations. If we we're to land 75% of them, we would have to hire additional bodies.

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Ron I know you have severely opposed renting classrooms training purposes in the past, but I think you have to reconsider it if you are only looking at two options right now. Could you make it with three corporate students without the lease? What about subleasing space from another local company? There are tons of companies with huge empty conference rooms right now. As for the economy, I started right before you Ron. That first couple of years was easy, my goodness if I knew then what I knew now. Boy did the next two year prove to be rough. We've been right to the brink of going under but we're pulling out of it. I do attribute lack of fixed assets such as an office location to our survival. I do think the "let's wait until after the elections" is a stall tactic. But I have seen a lot more companies starting to loosen up the spending. Profitable companies, yes there still is such a thing in the US, have gather quite a bit of cash and it's giving them very little return even aggressively invested in this economy. I'm optimistic on next years sales. Note I said optimistic, not cautiously optimistic. Good luck Ron, talk to you soon

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Ron What is your fallback position if everything sinks? Have you been talking with Social Security and can you survive on that ie fuel roof and food. Social Security has classes in my area and I think they are very good. Check with your local senior organization of local bank or credit union. I just read in paper where it reported many large industry are taking the hire incentive money only for cheap money and banking it. They are not using the money to hire or so the media says. IF true it seems this is hedging their bets and sorta supports "wait until elections". Do you have free space at home for developing and testing? If so then in theory you could get by on renting classroom space. Seems to me local high school or community college would have teh support (audio visual, computer etc etc) and may be willing to rent. Last choice in my mind is a hotel or motel - if only because it seems cheap to me (have seen some with good audio visual support though). I have looked at a few of your videos and like the "hands on", practical, and the little gotchas that are not in the manual. I think you have a very good product which should be in demand once management opens the money gates. Dan Bentler

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I think there is pent up demand in the queue but some of it is also anticipating better times. If the better times don't come the demand will go away. We are planning for a couple more years of just muddling through. It is just wasted time. A plague on both parties. Both parties have dug a whole so deep that it will take the rest of my working life and I know yours to unwind this mess IF there is good leadership with good ideas in Washington DC. Personally, I want all the incumbents voted out. They are crooked and stupid, but they are the best money can buy. How is that for dismal? But, wait there's more. The Fed is buying government debt? With what? Soon your 104Ks will be 41Ks or smaller due to inflation. We are doomed. I see no future where more than half the the people pay no federal income taxes. I see no future when more than half the people get money from the government. Ron, hopefully you saved lots of money from when times were good. So this is what I would do. I would rely on the internet to do training. Traveling cost money. Rooms cost money. The internet is relatively cheap. We train people over the internet all the time. Each student has access to a motion controller over the internet. This may mean you need multiple copies of PLCs software all running a a 8 core CPU and a virtual machine and PLC for each student. I imagine that you have much of the equipment already. You can then train people from your home. You can ask Norm Dziedic what he thought of our Ethernet training. We have such a system and we have trained as many as 14 people at a time. Ron, I have a temperature simulator written in structured text that runs on our motion controller. I can teach 8-10 people at a time on tuning temperature systems or any other system for that matter using the hardware I have already. You have to make use of the technology.

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My first question would be ... are there other places available for rent around or are you in a hot spot so to speak. The reason I ask, is that if there are a number of vacancies around then wouldn't the land lord be in a stronger position if the place is rented, ie what about month to month terms with a 90 day notice or the ilk. having to sign a three year deal is bogus as far as i am concerned, leases are cheaper the longer you sign them, but you have already been there for three years.. paid your rent.... looked ofter the place... ie you are a good tenant, that should be worth noting. Apart from reducing the leasing period, I like the idea of renting the facilities. What about local town halls or similar ? From an outsiders point of view, the US economy is in pretty dire straights at the moment. (I will try an support your economy next year as i am hoping to make a family trip over there.....might be able to finally afford it)

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An interesting read.... on the US economy.... extracted from www.munknee.com http://www.munknee.com/2010/10/the-great-dollar-devaluation-disaster-is-only-just-beginning-and-you-are-the-intended-victim/ "The Great Dollar Devaluation Disaster" is Only Just Beginning – and the Intended Victim is YOU! October 17, 2010 by Editor · Leave a Comment I'm mad as hell about the shellacking our government has planned for you … for me … and for millions of other honest, hard-working Americans … and I absolutely refuse to stay silent while good people are stripped of their life savings, investments and even the retirement funds that are due to them … and by our own leaders. Words: 2120 So says Larry Edelson's (www.uncommonwisdomdaily.com) in an article* which Lorimer Wilson, editor ofwww.munKNEE.com, has reformatted into edited [...] excerpts below for the sake of clarity and brevity to ensure a fast and easy read. (Please note that this paragraph must be included in any article reposting to avoid copyright infringement.) Edelson goes on to say: If it's hard for you to believe that our own leaders have turned on us – that they are intentionally attacking your wealth and financial independence and that they have already begun executing their plan – I certainly understand but please – for your own sake and for your family's safety – hear me out. U.S. Has an Utterly Unpayable $127.8 Trillion in Debt Obligations Ask anybody about how much Washington owes and they're likely to say the national debt is somewhere around $12.8 trillion. As shocking as that massive number is, however, it is just a fantasy — a tiny fraction of the gargantuan amount our government really owes. In actual fact, our real national debt is nearly TEN TIMES GREATER! In addition to that official $12.8 trillion national debt, Washington has written $108 trillion in off-budget, unfunded IOUs on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, its prescription drug program, its veterans benefits programs and its Federal pension programs that must also be paid. That adds up to more than $120 trillion and that's not even counting the $1 trillion the new health care bill will cost us or the trillions in NEW deficits projected over the next 10 years! The truth of the matter is that, altogether, our leaders have obligated us … our children … and our children's children … to pay off an utterly unpayable $127.8 trillion in debt. Global Investors in U.S. Treasuries Are Recoiling in Horror Until recently, we could count on overseas investors to buy our treasuries — effectively loan Washington the money it needs to pay its bills. In fact, foreigners fully fund over HALF of our borrowing addiction, holding $9.7 trillion in U.S. securities — including almost $4.6 trillion in bonds. They are horrified these days, however, at our leaders' inability to manage the nation's finances and wondering if we'll be able to make good on our obligations to them and starting to snap their wallets shut. a) In November 2009, for instance, China — the world's largest investor in U.S. government debt — became a net SELLER of treasuries. b) In December China sold a whopping $34 billion worth of U.S. government bonds with others following suit: Net overseas holdings of short-term treasuries fell by $53 billion. c) In January 2010, foreign net purchases of U.S. Treasury securities plunged a shocking 69.8%. Japan, the second-largest foreign holder of U.S. debt, was also a net seller. d) In February 2010, Beijing sold yet ANOTHER $11.5 billion of U.S. Treasuries, making that four consecutive months of dumping U.S. bonds. [Editor's Note: Don't forget to sign up for our FREE weekly "Top 100 Stock Market, Asset Ratio & Economic Indicators in Review"] This is all happening because Washington's debts have finally reached the point of no return – they are absolutely, positively UNPAYABLE! We have reached the point of no return. What are the Alternatives? The simple truth, of course, is that Washington will never repay the full $127.8 trillion it owes. Think through the alternatives: 1. Borrow our way out of debt? Virtually impossible. As we've seen, foreign investors who have loaned us the money that Washington needs to stay in business are already fed up. They're worried that we'll never be able to repay what we owe them. They're now becoming net SELLERS of treasuries so it's nearly impossible that they'll be willing to throw trillions more of their money our way. Plus, even the mere hint that Washington was trying to borrow trillions more would crush bond prices and light the fuse on an interest rate explosion that would kill the economy. 2. Implement massive spending cuts? A snowball's chance in hell! The White House and Congress will continue doing what they've always done and what they're doing right now – finding dozens of outrageous new ways to waste your money and plunge us even deeper in debt. Meanwhile, Washington WILL make a show of addressing the crisis by delaying the retirement age for Social Security from age 65 to 68 and by reducing benefits. How does that help you? It doesn't. It just dilutes down what you're already owed even more so if you're looking for any meaningful cuts in wasteful spending in Washington, forget about it. Any real cuts needed to make any noticeable dent in the government's $127.8 trillion debt would probably cause riots in the streets and guarantee a quick end to the career of every politician who voted for them. 3. Raise taxes drastically? Sure, the Obama administration will raise your taxes but even the White House says that the most startling proposals would only generate an additional $43 billion in revenue. $43 billion, however, is only 3% of our $1.6 trillion annual deficit and only about one-third of one percent of the total $127.8 trillion Washington owes. At that rate, it would take 300 years to repay our government's debt with new taxes! In fact, it would take new taxes of $1.1 million for every U.S. household to pay off this debt. Nobody has that kind of money, of course, and besides, a tax increase representing just a fraction of that amount would surely kill this feeble recovery, drive unemployment into the stratosphere and light the fuse on a Great Depression that makes the last one pale by comparison. That leaves Obama and Bernanke with one and ONLY one alternative … 4. Devalue the U.S. dollar? When war strategies to vanquish enemies wind up killing innocent civilians, it's called "collateral damage." Similarly, when political strategies to vanquish debt wipe out your wealth, the same term applies, and right now President Obama and Fed Chief Bernanke know that there is ONLY one way they can ever hope to make good on their massive debt obligations and that is to devalue the U.S. dollar! Only then can they hope to repay Washington's debts — by doing it with cheaper dollars. Obama and Bernanke also know that by doing so, they're also gutting the value of every dollar you earn, spend, save, invest and plan to use in retirement but they think they have no choice. To allow Washington to default on its debts and obligations would almost surely cause the entire U.S. economic house of cards to collapse — and the blame would land squarely on the Obama administration's shoulders. You? You're little more than collateral damage. If the only way to delay default is to rob you of everything you've worked for and everything you're counting on to see you through retirement — that's evidentially just fine with them. What is the Government Doing to Resolve the Situation? Our government has begun intentionally debasing our own currency by: 1. Flooding the World with Unbacked Paper Dollars Money is subject to the laws of supply and demand just like any commodity. If you want to lower the price, simply increase the supply. Just do that and the buying power of the greenback will plunge. Your bank statement may still say you still have $25,000 but in truth, when you go to spend that money, it only buys as much as $18,000, or $15,000, or $12,000 used to because the value of your money has been stolen from you. Just in the last two months alone, the Fed has agreed to create $1.25 trillion out of thin air to buy mortgage-backed securities including another $300 billion to buy U.S. Treasuries alone. The liabilities on the Fed's balance sheet have roughly DOUBLED — from $1.2 trillion a year ago to more than $2 trillion today – and the actions announced by the Fed in March are most likely to expand that to well over $3 trillion over the next year! From September 10, 2008 to March 10 of this year, Bernanke has increased the nation's monetary base from $850 billion to $2.1 trillion. That's an irresponsible, irrational and insane increase of 2.5 times in just 18 months — and you must not underestimate its sweeping historical significance: Nearly 218 years ago, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton established the dollar as America's national currency when Congress passed the Coinage Act of 1792. Since that memorable date, the United States has suffered through one pandemic, two great depressions, 11 major wars, and 44 recessions. Four U.S. presidents have been assassinated while in office. Hundreds of thousands of businesses have gone bankrupt and tens of millions of Americans have lost their jobs but not once has the U.S. government ever resorted to the kind of extreme abuses of its money-borrowing and money-printing power we're seeing today! 2. Defaulting on its Debts by Devaluation You've probably been hearing a lot lately about how overvalued the Chinese yuan is and how that gives the Chinese an unfair trade advantage and how hard the Obama administration has been working to convince Beijing to raise the yuan's value against the dollar in order to level the playing field but the only problem is that it is all a lie. The truth is, the average Chinese worker earns a tiny fraction as much as American workers do. Even if the yuan DOUBLED or TRIPLED in value against the dollar, Chinese products would still be far cheaper on world markets than U.S.-made products so what's the real reason why Washington is so desperate to have China INcrease the value of the yuan? Simple: By doing so, they will be automatically DEcreasing the relative value of the dollar — and they'll be able to repay China, and everyone else who owns treasuries or is owed money by Uncle Sam using CHEAPER dollars! Don't think it's going to happen? Well, let me tell you something: For the last nine years I've been warning that China would keep the value of its yuan extremely low — so it could keep its exports cheap, build up a massive trade surplus with the U.S. and a huge pile of cash but I also warned that, as soon as it had a big cash hoard and a strong enough domestic consumption to sustain its economy WITHOUT such massive growth in its exports to the U.S., it would let the yuan get stronger, driving DOWN the value of the U.S. dollar – and that day has come. China will soon go ahead with a yuan revaluation — and dollar devaluation. Such a revaluation ot its currency won't negatively impact China nearly as much because Beijing has been preparing for this the entire time by gobbling up natural resources left and right, not only for strategic supply needs, but also to hedge against the inevitable U.S. dollar devaluation. The steps are now in motion: a) Singapore, for the first time in its history, pushed the value of its currency higher. b) The Korean won, Malaysian ringgit, Indian rupee and Taiwan dollar will likely soon begin to rise rapidly against the dollar. c) China will probably soon end the yuan's peg to the greenback and allows its currency to move higher. Be Advised: You Are the Intended Victim! With each and every revaluation, YOUR dollar is worth LESS and make no mistake about it: This is nothing more and nothing less than highway robbery and YOU are the intended victim! The greenback has already plunged as much as 33% in real, trade-weighted terms since its 2002 high. By that measure, every dollar in your wallet … in your savings account … in your brokerage account … and in your retirement account is worth only 67 cents. The handwriting is on the wall: This great dollar disaster is only just beginning. Obama and Bernanke have no choice. Either they dramatically devalue the dollar over the next three years, or they go down in history as the first administration to default — to welch on the government's debt obligations. *http://www.uncommonwisdomdaily.com/dollar-doomsday-2010-protect-your-wealth-and-profit-9283 (Uncommon Wisdom is a free daily investment newsletter from Weiss Research analysts offering the latest investing news and financial insights for the stock market, precious metals, natural resources, Asian and South American markets. To view archives or subscribe, visit http://www.uncommonwisdomdaily.com.) Editor's Note: - The above article consists of reformatted edited excerpts from the original for the sake of brevity, clarity and to ensure a fast and easy read. The author's views and conclusions are unaltered. - Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given as per paragraph 2 above.

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The dollar is weak, come on over! Be sure to look me up

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first of all, I want to sincerely thank each one of you who've taken the time and trouble to contribute your comments and suggestions ... this has been very helpful to me as I've tried to organize my thoughts - and now I think I've come closer to putting my finger on the "real" problem that I'm facing ... what I've done over the last few days is put everything else aside and concentrated on coming up with a "plan of attack" for my business ... at this point in time, I'm convinced that "signing the lease" isn't the biggest issue that I'm facing ... instead I've got a "marketing" problem that I need to deal with ... I'll be writing more in the next few days but I'm teaching this week so I'll have to squeeze in the time somehow ... I just wanted to let you know that I do sincerely appreciate your time and your suggestions ... I'm still working on it ... thank you again ... Edited by Ron Beaufort

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Sorry about being a bit behind here, I've been buried in work for what seems like weeks. So, not to change the topic, but this sounds like a legal problem more than an economic one. Are you set up as a sole proprietorship? If you've got an LLC or a partnership, the whole idea is that they exist to mitigate risk to the owner (you!). Of course, if you haven't gone through any of the reams of legal paper that it takes to get a corporation of some sort set up, then you are indeed stuck. Otherwise, the company should be responsible for the lease, and if they fail, then you shouldn't personally be responsible for the lease. IANAL, and I don't play one on TV, but I have been through the partnership setup process before. We got to sit through a presentation from senior management at our company the other day, but I'm not going to speculate here based on what they said. Not sure how tight that information is supposed to be kept. Greg

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from gleblanc: yes, I'm licensed and insured as an LLC (Limited Liability Corporation) ... and theoretically that does provide some amount of insulation between "Ron the Business" and "Ron the Man" ... but ... the real estate people are fully aware of that "insulation" idea – and they usually won't agree to a commercial lease unless "Ron the Man" personally obligates himself to cover the rent payments – even if "Ron the Business" fails to do so ... it's a lot like a car dealership who insists on having "Dear Old Dad" co-sign the loan for his teenaged son's new car ... the term "jointly and severally" keeps cropping up in the paperwork ... I thank you for your input ... Edited by Ron Beaufort

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again, thank you all for your input ... reading back through your responses it looks like I might have somehow given you the wrong impression ... right now my business situation is not "bad" – and in fact, things aren't really what you'd call especially "tight" ... I'm very thankful that we are being blessed with "enough" – and actually a little bit "more than enough" to keep the business going and to pay all of our bills ... this is of course more than many other people can say these days ... I understand that many of my competitors have actually had to lay off some of their instructors ... my biggest concern (not a "problem" – just a "concern") is how to plan for the next few years ... if I were a younger man, then there would be no question at all – just keep on keeping on ... but I'll be 64 in a few more months ... I'm just leery of obligating myself to stay in business for three more years – even if things get worse ... signing a three year lease would have that "obligating" effect ... my current landlord has always been a pleasure to deal with – and he's doing everything possible to make this work out for both of us – but I fully understand that he also has a business to run ... if I can't float the lease, then he needs to find someone else who can ... so here's the situation ... when I first started in business for myself (about three years ago), I had several "larger" corporations here locally who would regularly send all of their "new hires" and "apprentices" to me for PLC training ... I didn't really need to do much "marketing" at all ... but ... most of those larger customers made products for the home-building trades (plywood, etc.) ... since the economy crashed about two years ago, most of the plants that I had been working for have closed – or at least cut back severely ... now I can no longer count on that same steady flow of local students to keep my little business chugging along ... fortunately (I prefer to say "blessedly") I still have a decent reputation - and I'm getting a lot of exposure due to those "preview lesson" YouTube videos that Archie Jacobs helped me put together ... it varies almost daily, but lately a Google search for Allen-Bradley PLC training will find me very near the top (and often in the very first spot) on a list of over 330,000 hits ... (that's not counting the paid advertisers of course – but I'm told that not many people bother looking at those anyway) ... so far, this extra exposure is bringing in "enough" new customers to keep things simmering along ... but ... all of those new customers lately have been much smaller customers – usually with only three or four students to send ... and - they can usually only send them one at a time due to work scheduling issues ... (somebody's got to stay behind and keep the plant running) ... and most of these aren't local businesses either ... they have to fly people in from Minnesota, Texas, Arkansas, and you name it – which sometimes complicates the scheduling side of things ... now I SINCERELY appreciate all of those new customers – and I do everything in my power to treat them right ... but the only problem is that I'm now CONSTANTLY having to keep developing new contacts – and CONSTANTLY cultivating new business ... there's NEVER a time when I can afford to quit being a "salesman" – and work on other projects ... (or even just "relax" for a day or so) ... now maybe that's just the "nature of the beast" these days – and if so, I'll just do what I've gotta do and learn to live with it ... but now that I'm rapidly approaching the point where most people dream about slowing down, I'm wondering just how much I'm going to have to speed up to stay in the game ... if things get worse, my "fall back" plan is to just sell off all my training equipment – and move on to something else ... I've got standing offers with at least two or three contacts who want me to do some freelance technical writing for them ... that should be a lot easier on me than teaching – especially as I get older ... still I REALLY do enjoy the teaching thing – and I HATE to think of giving it up ... so here's what I'm hoping and praying for ... regardless of which gang of crooks gets elected this time around, maybe the economy will pick back up again (good news for everybody) ... and then maybe my little business will come to the attention of a few "larger" customers who desperately need my type of PLC training as they expand their operations ... usually when I've been able to get my foot into a new door, it's been because Technician Ted has run across my YouTube lessons – or noticed me on the forums – and has begged his supervisor to send him off for a dose of intense "Boot Camp" style PLC training ... the supervisor is pleased with the results – and then starts sending more of his employees ... what usually DOESN'T happen is that the supervisor himself goes surfing across the web - Googling for some high-quality PLC training for his maintenance technicians ... (yes, it does happen that way occasionally – but only very seldom) ... I think the main reason is that the BIG BOSS is accustomed to having a friendly salesman make regularly scheduled visits right to his office – for the purpose of selling wire, buttons, PLCs, and other such doodads – and "Oh, by the way, would you like a side order of PLC training to go along with that?" ... lately I've had a few of my best friends in the business pass along the names and contact information of several "larger" prospective customers ... hopefully (prayerfully) those leads will eventually begin to pay off – if, and when, the economy starts to improve ... in the meantime, I'm still getting a lot of "let's wait and see" responses ... now back to the "lease signing" issue and we're done ... it hasn't been fully nailed down yet, but it's looking like if I can take on a slightly increased monthly rent payment, then I might be able to negotiate a shorter lease agreement – or possibly one with a more flexible termination clause ... the increased amount we're talking about could probably be covered by just two or three extra students per year ... that wouldn't be bad at all – IF (big IF) things pick up to where I have a few "steady stream" customers that I could count on ... then again, if things DON'T pick up – and in fact get worse – then obviously I'd just be sticking my neck further out onto the chopping block ... so – flip a coin ... should I SHOULD? ... or should I SHOULDN'T? ... if I can come up with a few new "steady stream" customers, then the lease issue will go away ... and if I can't come up with those customers, then – well, we'll just have to "wait and see" ... and THAT'S what makes this all look like a "marketing" issue to me ... thank you all again ... Edited by Ron Beaufort

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Geez Ron - I have not even seen a bump in Ozz - not training (I think they are suffering) but SI work, control panel design and building, SCADA, generators, swimming pools, writing spec outlines for consultants. Just turned 5-6 fairly large jobs away because I could not do them. Hope it keeps going. Good luck and I hope things pick up for you.

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Been VERY slow here in the UK where i am for the last 6-8 months Took advantage by doing some updates and courses, also have become a siemens BMS partner as i keep turning these jobs down.... But still slow, all my longstanding customers are very very slow Mainly Maintenance and Breakdown work... Ron: My dad still works with me, He's 73 next Feb...... Hang in there, your still young On a serious thought and you'll probably not like it but have you thought of doing some training over Skype ? I don't know how practicable it would be and it would not be hands on in your class but it would certainly give you a wider audience ? Edited by 504bloke

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Are AB, Omron distributors interested in you running their training for them ? 1. They can reduce their training staff - another overhead 2. They do not have to have room's full of duplicated equipment for training - another cost reduction on their behalf. 3. You can teach the students real problem solving skills rather then just the how too follow these notes approach... 4. You have real problem solving life experience and a passion for teaching, it aint just another role to do in a company... These are just a few benefits that I see you can offer the bigger players and they would be made not to utilise your skills.

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well, it's election day as I write this ... maybe we'll know soon enough whether the "Republican / Democrat" factor really does make a difference one way or another ... here are some excerpts that I ran into on the news today ... full article here: http://money.cnn.com/2010/11/02/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm?source=cnn_bin&hpt=Sbin pesonally I don't believe everything that I read - but that's what the news is saying ... Edited by Ron Beaufort

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well, you know what they say about opinions - but here's another one that I found interesting in today's news: the full article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39988585/ns/business-us_business all I know is that all of a sudden my phone has started ringing a lot more often - and my calendar is pretty much full for the rest of the year ... I hope and pray that the same trend will continue next year ... I sincerely thank you all for your input - and especially for the "off board" recommendations and leads that have been passed my way ... Edited by Ron Beaufort

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Glad to hear that things have picked up a bit Ron. Couldn't happen to a nicer chap...

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