The End Is Near
As 2018 comes to a close we look back at the year and our previous predictions.
Let’s check it out, shall we?
RICK SINGLETON
We’ll start out with another “whew, we made it”! Actually, for the vast majority of Auto Dealers (and businesses in general) this was a pretty darn good year, just as we predicted it would be. Let’s see…
OUR PREDICTION:
The 2018 Economy would Thrive, Many Businesses Will Experience Record Growth
REALITY:
Yes indeed. The economy happened to be one of the best in forty plus years. Most businesses experienced some or record growth. We also predicted that because of this there would be an abundance of jobs and it wasn’t business that was going to be so hard to get as it was employees to handle that business. Spot on we were.
OUR PREDICTION:
Car Sales, Boat Sales & RV Sales would be up
REALITY:
For the most part they were up and in fact in many cases demand for various cars, boats and recreational vehicles surpassed availability
OUR PREDICTION:
Electronic Media will be a bigger part of mainstream advertising
REALITY:
While that was a pretty safe bet it was still one that we were right on the money with
OUR PREDICTION:
The Political Soap Opera Would Continue
REALITY:
Say no more
OUR PREDICTION:
Trump would not be impeached and Clinton would not go to prison
REALITY:
For most of us this is great news and horrible news at the same time… but we were right both ways
OUR PREDICTION:
The Next Generation will become even more entitled
REALITY:
Hot Damn! When we’re right... we are RIGHT. This generation has become so entitled that they might even try to collect interest on their entitlement
OUR PREDICTION:
Big companies will continue to gobble up other companies
REALITY:
Over 2.5 Trillion in acquisitions… and that was just the first half of this record-breaking year
OUR PREDICTION:
Social Media will continue to grow but be forced to change
REALITY:
Well we were certainly correct on the first part. Social media has grown in record ways with more users, more time spent and more revenue generated. However, it did not change as dramatically as we thought it would but it’s still coming… I promise
OUR PREDICTION:
Older will get younger
REALITY:
The older did, and will continue to get younger. People are just different today than they were a generation or two ago. The baby boomers want to feel better, look younger and live longer and they’re on the warpath to do just that.
OUR PREDICTION:
Baby Boomers will purchase less yet spend more
REALITY:
The trend has started and it won’t stop for a while. Many Baby Boomers are looking to down-size and even clean up their lives by getting rid of some of the unnecessary “stuff”. However, they are not overlooking quality. They have more expendable income and they appreciate quality and comfort… and this year they paid to get it. This trend will continue.
OUR PREDICTION:
Your cell phone will do more
REALITY:
Nearly 80% of Americans now own a cell phone and its estimated that the average consumer spends a whopping 5 hours every day on those devices. Five hours a day! This is really getting crazy if I do say so myself. Think about it; the average person sleeps 8 hours a day leaving only 16 hours a day to live. Subtract from that an average of 2.5 hours a day for breakfast, lunch and dinner (just to eat, not to prepare), 8 hours a day working (which is also invaded by cell phone usage), an average of 1 hour transporting to and from work each day… that leaves just under 4 hours a day to live. That’s more than half of our lives on our cell phones. You wanna live twice as long? Control that monster!
So specifically, how did cell phones grow? Well they added better quality graphics again this year, better quality video, major advancements in facial recognition, in-screen fingerprint recognition, built in projectors… even phones that look, and act like laptops. We won’t even get into the phone apps. That’s a story in itself.
Quick Look Back
We Lost Some Good Ones
We lost some good folks including both Barbara and George Bush, Stan Lee, Roy Clark, John MCCain, Aretha Franklin, Stephen Hawking and even Bozo the Clown (Frank Avruch), as well as many other beloved people. While some great people left us, there were certainly some great future talent, leaders, innovators and entertainers that were born into our world.
OVERALL
The economy was robust and I expect that it will continue to be. Life expectancy continued to increase globally (but decreased slightly in the US). Innovations this year were exciting including the fastest vehicle ever made (NASA’s Parker Solar Probe), the safest helicopter ever manufactured (H160 by Airbus), several infection control innovations, a gene discovery of what makes cancer metastasize, a DNA test that could predict the side effects of drugs; and an inexpensive way to diagnose hepatitis B.
All in all 2018 was a really good year… and we told you it would be!