It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Which means predictions about the future of senior living can’t be far behind.
So this is probably a good time to gird yourself for the various prognostications now being baked — some only halfway.
Of course, if you want to save yourself a bit of time you can simply do the following:
- Take stock of what is happening in senior living right now.
- Prep for more of the same in 2023.
Does that two-step approach underestimate what’s coming to this complex and dynamic senior living field? Perhaps, but not by much. Truth be told, most industry prognosticators are already doing the first item — and likely will call for the second.
Sure, some outlier will make an outrageous prediction or two. But as surely as January gets cold in Chicago, you can rest assured the fearless forecast will include hedge words such as “may,” “could” and “might.” And really, how helpful is that?
Does that mean crazy things won’t happen? Of course not. They regularly do. But they tend to come out of nowhere. Or did I miss the predictions for a COVID-19 pandemic?
The world’s greatest investor is Warren Buffet. Currently, his net worth is in the neighborhood of $117 billion. That makes him the fifth richest man in the world. Much of that wealth has sprung from the stock value of his holding escalating in value.
Yet Buffet pays scant attention to Wall Street forecasters. He also flat out refuses to make predictions about which way the market will go.
Instead, he finds undervalued companies with a huge potential upside. When those firms hit pay dirt, so does he.
So what’s the takeaway here for senior living operators? Don’t believe everything you read, or hear.
Things outside your control or ability to foresee them are going to happen. When they do, deal with them the best you can.
In the meantime, do all you can to make your organization as valuable as possible. Whether that means providing a unique service, tapping the right market segment or simply out-executing the competition is up to you.
The key is to keep adding value. Do that and most of the other stuff will take care of itself. No matter what the experts predict.
John O’Connor is editorial director for McKnight’s Senior Living and its sister media brands, McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, which focuses on skilled nursing, and McKnight’s Home Care. Read more of his columns here.
