Las Vegas wedding chapels adapt to survive fewer nuptials

We think about love and marriage like this little cocoon that we go into and the rest of the world doesn’t intervene. But that’s not the case and I’ve seen the numbers to prove it.

Las Vegas wedding are down roughly 30% over the last several years, according to Bloomberg. The reason? People feel unsettled, they may be unemployed, they can’t afford their own place and can’t find a job. So they don’t feel it’s the right time to get married. In turn, people are not tying the knot in the numbers they once were.

That’s been difficult for Las Vegas. Imagine how many wedding chapels there are in the town. On a recent trip there, I went jogging by one that was shuttered. That’s a problem for the local economy.

Fortunately, there is a silver lining here. The article went on to describe something that I think is a key lesson here: In capitalism, if you are a business owner, sometimes you get flat-out run over by market conditions. There’s nothing you can do about the conditions themselves. But when conditions zig, you’ve got to zag.

Bloomberg points out those wedding chapels that are surviving have created new business by making a big marketing thrust out of having people renew their vows. Also, even though same sex marriage is illegal in Nevada, the wedding chapels don’t care. So they’re doing ceremonies for same sex couples that are symbolic, even though they’re not recognized under the law of the state, as a way to get business.

The point is, as a business you have to adapt to survive.

Think about ways that you can compete and you can get customers so you can survive. The idea of being versatile is applicable in most fields. In most cases, you can adapt.

One of the constants in business is that conditions never stop changing. The question is do you have your eyes and ears open to go with the flow? Or do you stay focused with blinders and on and get walloped when things change and you didn’t change with them?