In any economic crisis, the deck of cards that everyone has gets reshuffled. If you don’t like the hand you have been dealt, it offers a chance to do better. If you have a good hand, you need to know how to protect your position and hold onto the cards you want. There is still an opportunity to gain better cards from the reshuffle.

The economy was destined to implode. It was inevitable in an economy built on greed, overleveraging and convoluted valuations. The bubble had to burst.

The economic turmoil has been appropriately referred to as the perfect economic storm. In other words, different or separate economic problems or storms are converging together at the same time to create a much more powerful storm.

The economy and the markets that make it up are really an ecosystem with an equilibrium equation. When things get out of whack they will always adjust and come back into balance over time. The important thing is to anticipate and take advantage of the direction of change.

People are shaken and awakened by the economy and the lack of job security. Entrepreneurism is thriving. People are keenly interested in supplementing and expanding their income because they are concerned about the escalating unemployment rate and they are looking for solutions and alternatives like never before.

It is important to understand the economy crashed in the financial markets at the top of the pyramid Ñ not at the bottom where most Americans make it happen day by day. People are still productive and ambitious, want to work hard, and are willing to do what it takes to maintain their lifestyles and buying habits. But they are looking to buy smarter.

While the retail industry is contracting and closing up locations as in-store sales plummet, Internet marketing is growing by leaps and bounds. In 2008, sales at Amazon.com jumped 29 percent to $19.17 billion, pushing the company’s profit up 36 percent to $645 million. The inconveniences of shopping in stores are abundant: fighting traffic, waiting in long lines, fuel costs and not being able to compare products instantly across stores or brands for the best price or best features. This is causing people to move to online shopping at a record rate.

There is a paradigm shift away from brick-and-mortar stores to online shopping. The overhead of retail stores is causing companies to go out of business. The downturn in the economy and the leveraged financial bubbles bursting simply serve as a catalyst to speed it up. The inefficiencies of mass marketing in stores have become more pronounced and apparent than ever before. Internet shopping eliminates the need for costly inventories spread all over the country and eliminates the exorbitant cost of mass media advertising.

The economy hasn’t failed at the bottom. It caved in at the top where the greed and insanity became too heavy. It wasn’t from a lack of production or demand for consumer goods and quality products. Commerce will go on and great products at the best prices will thrive. More efficient ways of buying continue to thrive.

While some see a crisis, I see an opportunity. It is time to ignite the inner entrepreneur in all of us.