Bill Myers

In the waterfront neighborhood where we live, almost everyone has an ocean going boat parked at their back yard dock.

Most of these boats are modest, family sized weekend cruisers. But one of our neighbors has a real floating palace - a huge boat with three staterooms, three bathrooms, a full kitchen, even a den. It is really a fabulous boat and can easily cruise to any port in the world.

The only problem - the boat is so large it can only be moved into the harbor when the water is at high tide. In low tides, the boat has to be parked. (And since there are two low tides a day, the boat is parked a lot.) So my neighbor with the biggest boat has to sit at home while others with smaller boats are able to get out and enjoy the water.

Some businesses are like the big fabulous boat. They can only be operated successfully when the business economy is at 'high tide'. But when the tide goes out and the economy slows down, those big businesses are often the first to be affected. They founder or find themselves stuck in the mud trying to stay afloat in an economic low tide.

That's why I prefer doing smaller projects. Not only are smaller projects easier to develop and manage, they are much less likely to be affected by economic low tides. (And they give me time to look for a boat).