Being an innovator is great but even better to be an innovator that makes and keeps a profit. It is hard to watch what’s happening in the world of finance the last while without having some trepidation about the stability of the system. After all, the goal of being an innovator and constantly creating value is to be able to capture some of that value in the form of money. The definition of money has changed numerous times over the centuries. Money can be used to measure the actual success of your efforts. But if the “Ruler” you are using to measure with is constantly changing it becomes less and less effective as a way to measure progress. For instance, if you were driving across the United States and each state had a different number of feet between their mile markers it would truly be difficult to keep track of your progress. As the value of the dollar and oil and food get more and more volatile it does make you wonder if our financial system is as healthy as we are told it is. A 40% drop in the price of oil in just a few months is not a healthy environment no matter how much it may help at the gas pump. The problems with collapsing oil prices are many, one being that all the money invested in new sources of energy may now be underwater with the price of oil under $80. The collapse in oil prices may also be acting as the canary in the coal mine, telling us the economy might be in trouble. If you are going to survive as an innovator, let alone thrive, you will need to take some risks and get creative with how you capture and keep the value you are creating in the market place. The dollar has made a truly explosive move upward in the last few months and it could be a good time to move some of your liquidity into another asset such as commodities or into another currency such as the Euro or the Swiss Franc or even the Canadian Dollar. It is as simple as making sure you don’t have all of your eggs in one basket. Diversification is more important when there is uncertainty in the market place! Just like an good export company you need to have the right money mixture. If you are heavily invested in any one currency your company can be very vulnerable. When you think like an exporter or a global business you will be an innovator with your profits as well as your products and people.
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