Do you think your company sales will be better, worse or the same in 2011?

David Bloch, MD of the Brightwater Group comments:

That’s great news! I’m not surprised either as that correlates with everything I’ve heard and everyone I speak to. For example, in the recent Grant Thornton International Business Report it explained that just 21% of Irish businesses were confident about the national economy, but 73% felt their businesses would maintain, or increase profitability in 2011.

Although Brightwater’s and Grant Thornton’s surveys both came out with 73% expecting improvement, or the same company performance in 2011 – Brightwater asked about company sales increasing, while Grant Thornton asked about profitability. I was very interested to hear people’s opinion on sales, because it is more important for the economy than profitability. Profitability can be gained by cutting costs, but there is no way to disguise increased sales. Increased sales means growth, employment and the beginning of the return of Ireland Inc.

So why are people optimistic on their own company yet pessimistic on the economy? I think the two are linked, but people are beginning to push forward again; aware that the country has real debt problems (in case you missed the daily media reminders), but confident that they can overcome the odds. The thing I wonder, is how much does the daily media drama affect your business? Would you / we go further and faster with different media rhetoric?

Which leads me into my next question:

Does the media affect how you run / plan your business?