It would be fun and probably valuable to look into a fortune teller’s crystal ball to see what the future of the contracting and service and repair business holds. I don’t claim to have such a device for making predictions, but I can share what I have observed recently that will affect our industry in the years to come. We can never precisely predict where business is headed but I think it’s important now and then to look ahead, I always try to pay attention to what is taking place — even if I don’t particularly like what I see. Let me share some of my estimates about the future of our business and give you my ideas for dealing with the coming changes.
Deregulation Of Utilities: It hasn’t been very many years since the government deregulated the telephone companies. Instead of a monopoly run by one large company offering local and long distance service, there are now many companies who offer long distance service. They are free to compete without many restrictions. The same changes occurred in the airline business in the late 1970s. It seems to be a trend, one that is growing.