Times are tough for many businesses and will likely get worse. If you needed proof, however, that adding value to customers generates profit in any economic climate, consider Apple’s earnings for Q4 08 – Apple sold 6.8 million iPhones last quarter, has USD25B in the bank and zero debt.

It’s easy to blame the economic climate, recalcitrant customers or the phases of the moon for poor profitability. What’s hard is to accept responsibility for poor results and to start creating real value for your prospective customers.