Entrepreneurial Tightrope: Sometimes what's old is new again

— -- While having our annual holiday brunch with my friends, Gina, a struggling entrepreneur, told us about a local bookstore bringing in a psychic to attract business for New Year's Day. A purchase of three books would give the buyer an opportunity to hear what the New Year had in store for them.

We all laughed. Gina's tone became serious. "I would love to know what the future had in store for me," she said.

A hush surrounded the table as Gina went on. "I would appreciate knowing what business to go into that would hold strong and make a good profit. Wouldn't you all like to get a business projection?"

Without hesitating I blurted out that she could predict as well as the psychic, maybe even better.

My six brunch companions were now staring at me for clarification.

I explained that the past, present and future intermingle, and as much as things seem to change there is an air of sameness in the mix.

For example, when it comes to our musical listening pleasure, the old fashion record player gave birth to the transistor radio and that changed into the Walkman. The Walkman became the CD player and the CD player became the iPod. And, the thing that makes the iPod interesting and exciting is its return to the listening system started by the record player.

To go back further, in the '60s the hot things to purchase were vinyl disc records called 45s. For those of you too young to know, these were single music cuts from LPs, short for long-playing, or albums.

At some point, single-play listening went out of style and you found yourself buying records, tapes and then compact discs that contained eight to 10 songs you didn't care to hear just to get to the one tune that you fell in love with from a movie, television show or the radio.

And now, thanks to iTunes we have returned to buying one tune at a time, just like in the '60s and earlier.

I reminded my buddies that when we were growing up, our parents would not dare to think of buying a small car. In fact, the bigger the car, the better. That was the case until the oil crisis of the '70s. I reminded them that prior to that the station wagon dominated the roadways much like SUVs do today. The profitable solution to both manufacturers and buyers in the '70s was the compact car.

We are making the circle again where cars and gasoline are of concern. While shopping for a new car recently the salesman started trying to sell me on the idea of buying a hybrid car. Not knowing much about them I didn't express enthusiasm. Sensing my lack of interest the salesman said, "You will cut your gasoline bill in half." That statement definitely gave me something to think about.

I don't know what the psychic would predict. However, my guess is with the cost of gasoline going up and down, many will be scrambling to purchase a vehicle that will address the issue of high fuel costs. Today's trend toward hybrid cars sounds similar to the compact-car days of the '70s with one added benefit: It's especially good for the environment. Oh, yes, and one more thing: I notice that many shopping mall parking lots have special spaces near the entrance for hybrid vehicles.

So, you don't need a psychic to look into a crystal ball for a business forecast. Take a look at what is happening now you might get an idea or two of something that you can pull from the past to complement the present. Ergo, creating a tremendous opportunity for yourself and others.

Gladys Edmunds' Entrepreneurial Tightrope column appears Wednesdays. As a single, teen-age mom, Gladys made money doing laundry, cooking dinners for taxi drivers and selling fire extinguishers and Bibles door-to-door. Today, Edmunds, founder of Edmunds Travel Consultants in Pittsburgh, is a private coach/consultant in business development and author of There's No Business Like Your Own Business, published by Viking. See an index of Edmunds' columns. Her website is www.gladysedmunds.com. You can e-mail her at gladys@gladysedmunds.com.