When a super massive star burns out, what's left collapses. There is so much 'stuff' to collapse that this huge amount of matter compresses into a black hole. It's called a black hole because the pull of gravity from the dead star will not allow even light to escape. This is cool stuff to think about.
But where's the business analogy?
Well, before a massive star dies, it first expands very rapidly. It expands a little too rapidly. Because the stuff that makes up the massive star gets spread out from expansion, there no longer is sufficient pressure on the core to keep the nuclear reaction going. Poof. The fire goes out. Following the rapid expansion is an even faster contraction. So fast is this contraction, it can't be slowed. Soon, the entire mass of the former giant compresses into itself never to shine again.
Business has a tendency to expand rather than to sustain. Management always wants more. When you see super fast expansion, remember that even faster contraction usually follows. And once contraction starts, it's pretty hard not to become a black hole.
Crispy Kreme, Starbucks and even GM went through rapid expansion. GM is about to become a clack hole. Crispy Kreme probably will too. Starbucks? Too early to tell.
If their management understood a little physics these three companies might not be in trouble today...watch that rapid expansion.
