3 Reasons Buffett dumped Walmart, 6 Quick Stress Fighters, No one eats alone at this school…
Business
3 Reasons Buffett Dumped Walmart
You’ve probably heard Warren Buffett has almost eliminated his holdings in Walmart. He once held $3 billion worth of Walmart stock, but now holds less than $100 million.
But, do you know why and what it might mean to your business? Buffett rarely explains his trades, but here is my take on why he dumped Walmart.
Amazon
Buffett speaks highly of Jeff Bezos and appears to want to compete against him as little as possible. At last year’s annual meeting he spoke about Amazon. “It is a big, big force and it has already disrupted plenty of people and it will disrupt more.”
Speaking of Bezos, Buffett said, “Overwhelmingly, he’s taken things you and I’ve been buying, and he’s figured out a way to make us happier buying those products, either by fast delivery or prices or whatever it may be, and that’s remarkable.”
Are you competing against Amazon? If not, who is disrupting your industry? Walmart leadership is regretting they did not invest more into e-commerce sooner. How should you be investing to fend off your next wave of competition?
Know that investing against whoever is disrupting your industry will cost you money. Your investment will probably be less profitable than your current business. Intel sacrificed profit margins to compete against AMD. But, losing your customers will cost you a lot more in the long run.
Retail
Retail is tough and getting tougher. Buffett said, “Retailing is like shooting at a moving target.” Retail has always been difficult. Now retailers must be excellent at the things they have always done and fight off e-commerce competition.
Will retail survive? Absolutely. As a whole, the industry will be less profitable. To find higher margins retailers will need to find niches where they can serve their core customer base better than anyone.
In a time-starved world, consumers like the convenience of shopping from their smartphone and expecting delivery within two days. How will you compete against this trend?
Walmart is testing selling groceries online that you can pick up curbside for no extra cost. They know you’ll probably throw in a few extra items with your grocery order. Why not? You’re ordering from Walmart. They have everything! Walmart keeps a customer and attracts a few new ones. We forget to order from Amazon because we are going to Walmart for our groceries anyways.
Following the Trends
Buffett is known for buying and holding large portions of great companies like Coca-Cola and American Express. He historically avoided investments in technology.
But, have the trends moved too far in the direction of technology companies for Buffett to ignore? It appears he is investing more in companies that know their business model, like Apple. While investing less in industries that have a lot of work to do to compete in a rapidly changing marketplace.
Who is disrupting your industry? How will you compete?
Health
Feeling Stressed?
We all feel stress at some time. Studies say that 3/4th of Americans experience physical and psychological symptoms from stress on a regular basis. But, very few of us do anything to combat that stress. The solutions just seem to take too much time (only 14% of us exercise regularly to cope with stress). Lifehack posted 30 quick stress relievers that you should check out. Below are my favorites:
- Get Some Sun on Your Face – Better yet, get exercise outside on a sunny day. Nothing beats it!
- Exercise of any sort – Do max pushups at your desk or air squats. You rejuvenate your mind and body at the same time.
- Give a Compliment – or do anything nice for someone. It gets you out of your funk and makes you feel great.
- Outsource Some Tasks – Have work piling up that you hate to do? Good news. Someone in this world loves to make a living doing work you hate. Check out Upwork for computer related tasks.
- Pray – As the rapper 50 Cent famously said to Oprah, you either pray or worry. How does God feel when you pray then worry?
- Breathe / Meditate – When we get stressed our breathing gets shallow, which lowers the oxygen levels in our bodies, which furthers the problem. Learn how to “belly breathe” and turn to deep breaths when you get stressed. Try out this great app. It’s free.
Life, Fun, Whatever
No One Eats Alone at this High School
So neat to see kids reaching out to make others feel loved. Very cool 2 min video about the “No one eats alone” club at high school in Florida.
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