No matter what the economy, there are always companies that belie current conditions – successes during recessions and failures in boom times. It’s simply a matter of mindset, conviction, planning and getting the word out.

Last month I was in Tampa for the annual conference of the Florida Airports Council. Once again, it was a highly successful event that drew the heads of big-time national firms. I came away with great story ideas and perhaps an ad or two.

While there, I met a gentleman whose firm was forecasting low to no growth for next year. The company was cutting expenditures, not filling vacant positions and proceeding cautiously. My guess is that it will hit its no-growth forecast. If you don’t have conviction that things are getting better, how do you translate that to your customers?

Two aisles down, I found another vendor that was having its best year ever. Same industry; same competitive environment. A gentleman from this company attributed the success to keeping the product lineup fresh and spending more time reaching out to customers. He also had products that were perfect for airports, offered at a fair price. He was so confident, I was ready to buy!

Suppliers are not alone. Airports are also subject to anticipation of success or failure. A meeting with a consultant later that day led to another self-fulfilling prophecy. One of the consultant’s airport clients was thrilled with its appearance in an Airport Improvement article. The airport looked to the future, worked hard to create a vision, and put it all together. It loved the exposure and is exceeding traffic forecasts. It’s reaping the rewards.

To a great degree, destiny is in our own hands.

Cheers!

-Paul