While I fully understand the potential impact that such failures represent to workers, retirees and entire communities where auto plants and their suppliers are located, it’s nonetheless disturbing to today’s Americans, their children and grandchildren who will be burdened with the debt of a costly government bailout for an industry that largely ignored their own plight in the past and who have struggled financially even during the best of times.

If one were to calculate the cost of their past inefficiencies to our economy, the cost of today’s bailout and the financial burden which will be placed on future generations who will be saddled with this debt, you can’t help but wonder if such companies are indeed ‘too big to fail.’

What if the sum of all of these costs had been invested in alternative energy research, education or any one of a number of other worthwhile endeavors?

One additional cost we have failed to recognize is the cost of government oversight of these bailed out giants. A government that, to most of us, irregardless of party affiliation, appears to govern more for political advantage than for the common good.

Just look at Amtrak, which has received tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies since its inception but is no closer to achieving its government mandated requirement to become self sustaining today, than it was when it began service in 1971.

I won’t speculate about the future of the American automotive industry, but their plight offers valuable insights which can be applied to any size company to help assure their own long term health and success.

If you own a small to mid-size company and think that you cannot learn from the GM/Chrysler experience, think again.

Our local economy is full of mini GMs and Chryslers that often ignore the changing direction within their respective industries, changes in consumer
buying habits, competitive threats, new technology, and which provide inferior customer service, just to name a few.

If you’re reading my column, you likely will not be deemed ‘too big to fail.’ If indeed you are ‘too big to fail’ you may not enjoy the reality of almost daily government intervention and media scrutiny into every facet of your business.

The reality is that four out of every ten businesses currently in the top quartile of a given business sector will drop from these much coveted positions during this recession.

Inefficient and ineffective business models that have ignored changes in their respective industries are being replaced by more efficient and effective competitors who are adapting to changing marketplace conditions and have chosen to lead rather than to follow.

The decision to persevere and prosper or to risk failure is a choice each entrepreneur must make individually.

What will your decision be?