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This is happiness
Happy Friday! This week, I went art aficionado, carefully inspecting every brush stroke to hand select only the masterpieces to put on display for the whole world (well, really just you).
This week's masterpieces:
Closure Tsunami
Vibe Coding
Pearly Triangle
1. Closure Tsunami
Every day 11,200 Americans are retiring, hitting peak by 2027.
According to the 2022 Census 52.3% of all businesses in the US are controlled by individuals at or near retirement.
A recent NY times article tells a cautionary tale for US small businesses. Japan, a precursor to the US demographic trend, found that 60% of small businesses in Japan lack a successor.
Risking over 630k profitable small businesses closing…a “closure tsunami “.
Back to the US. American small businesses are the backbone of our communities.
They are the antidote to mega corps that lack personality and don't care about our communities.
Codie Sanchez, biz badass, uses this as a rallying cry to declare we need to “take back Main Street”.
Her view is this creates one of the great opportunities in American history to both buy a profitable business and keep our local communities…local.
Continuing the traditions and stories of businesses that have been in our communities for decades.
This is not only good for communities, it's great for those looking to buy local businesses.
Most of these businesses, sometimes called boring, have been profitable for decades. The business buyer can rely on these profits to fund the business purchase and with a little tech, sales and marketing can make the business run even smoother and give back even more to the community through jobs and investment.
The time is now to match these hardworking business owners with the next generation of business operators to keep our community…local and thriving.
2. Vibe Coding
The art of chillin’ and codin’.
Well, actually, vibe coding is telling AI what to code and sitting back and relaxing.
Looks like Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn (LI) and Maruchan ramen guy, took up vibe coding.
He used Replit and simply told it to clone LI to his amazement he called the clone “surprisingly functional”.
Even Shopify CEO and Irish Sheep farmer, Tobi Lutke said that all hiring will require the justification that the hiring manager “cannot get what they want done using AI.”
Its getting tough out there. Not only are candidates competing with 1000s of other well qualified candidates but they are also competing with AI.
What does that mean for small businesses?
What's needed in a new hire, an eagerness to learn and knowledge of how to use AI to make businesses run better.
What do you think about ‘vibe coding’ just the latest buzz word or truly a change in how businesses hire and work?
3. Pearly Triangle
We are slathered with distractions coming in from all angles.
Businesses try to sail through the rough seas of distractions to land customers’ attention.
Some have found the golden ratio as the way to circumnavigate these difficult waters.
The golden ratio is an attractive pattern found in nature that draws human attention.
Famously seen in nature in sunflowers and seashells.
And replicated in art by “the Mona Lisa of the North” painter Vermeer in his famous painting The Girl with the Pearl Earring.
Neurologists have studied Vermeer’s masterpiece and its effect on human attention and have shown that the painting creates a sustained attention loop.
Here is the Detroit take on Vermeer’s masterpiece.
Great companies are masters of the sustained attention loop.
YouTube masters the sustained attention loop Data x Content x Craving Loop. YouTube lets people create content and uses data to identify which content is most addictive relevant to the watcher, and they create a sustained attention loop.
The sustained loop of attention in the future is education x creates value x drives attention.
Every day I'm thinking about how my interactions drive value.
How about you, what's your golden ratio?
Happy Friday ya’ll!
👋 Know a small biz owner who’s thinking of selling in the next 5 years? Hit me up—I’d love to connect.