Mackay: new jobs, new opportunities, new hope
From David Fisher, Gardian Real Estate
It’s not a case of Doom to Boom but the feeling of positivity in Mackay is becoming palpable.
Whether you’ve been in business or just trying to hold on to your job, the experience of living in our declining economy over the past three or four years has had an impact on all of us.
Many have fallen by the wayside and have left the region, others of us have fought on… and on… and on.
The fight to survive has not just been a fight against competitors or diminishing opportunities and customers. It has been a fight to be better at what we do as business people and professionals.
We have had to become better with less, to not just be very good at what we do but to do it more efficiently, at a lower cost.
Most importantly, we’ve had to become better at servicing our clients and customers: better at listening to them, better at communicating with them, better at getting them the result they want.
And now, with the price of coal at levels we would not have dared dream about six months ago, we are perhaps on the precipice of change. There is talk of new jobs, new business opportunities, new mines, new hope, a new direction. Hallelujah!
If change is upon us, we all have something to celebrate… but before we do that, we also need to remember something important. We need to remember the lessons we have learnt over the past few years.
Mackay, the region generally and all of us individually, need to remember the lessons of the downturn. We know what good business practice is, we know how to work hard, how to be efficient, how to be the best we can be. And we know how to service our customers and clients. We know how important it is to keep them, how vital it is to deliver the results they want and deserve.
Those of us who have survived the down-urn know how much better we are at what we do as a result of fighting through the tough times. The key now is for all businesses and professionals in this region to continue with the same mindset and apply the same uncompromising standards for our customers as times get better.
