Out with the old, in with the new

Driving through Northern Italy I was staggered to see this huge warehouse structure, painted in familiar colours.

And what was it?

It was an Amazon fulfilment centre in Castel San Giovanni and boy was it huge as I’ve endeavoured to show in my hurried through the car window photo.

Now Castel San Giovanni has been around forever, since Roman times I’d guess, and for the last few hundred years has been a centre of agricultural and manufacturing industries. But with the former declining, due to mass mechanisation of farming, and the latter disappearing, because of cheaper labour costs elsewhere, unemployment was increasing and the town was looking pretty shabby and losing its former glory.

But then along came Amazon and, with the need for scores of fulfilment centres around the world, they plopped one down in Castel San Giovanni. It probably employs hundreds of locals and is helping the town restore its former glories.

Only established in 1994, just 20 years ago, what a world changing operation Amazon has become. And how rapidly the company has grown yet it only seems like a couple of years ago that I received a coffee mug with a note from founder Jeff Bezos thanking me for my business.

And how many believed that the company had no future particularly when the dot com bubble burst a few years ago.

So what’s this mean for you and me? Be aware of change and capitalise on it. Never say “it won’t work” but rather “how can I make it work for me?”

But, even more importantly, look for the opportunity to harness change and make it work for you, both personally and in your business.

The only thing certain in life is change itself.