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HOW_WILL_YOUR_BUSINESS_RESPOND_TO_THE_CHALLENGE_OF_CHANGE
| HOW WILL YOUR BUSINESS RESPOND TO THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGE?
Most new business owners expect to devote a lot of time and
effort to getting their business established. Then, they plan to
relax as the business "runs itself" and continues to grow. This
was an achievable goal in the past. It isn't today. Aggressive,
innovative competitors and rapidly changing technology make it
impossible to establish a system today that will automatically
meet all future challenges.
EXPECT CHANGE
Develop a "change is normal" attitude. Realize you're never
going to reach the point where you know your business so well
you can stop learning. Just when you think you've mastered the
operation of your business something will change and disrupt
your growth.
Make it a habit to look for changes that may be a developing
trend. Then try to determine how this trend may impact the
growth of your business. You can develop the best solution to a
problem when you catch it early and take your time to carefully
work out your response. There's nothing more difficult than
trying to make good long term business decisions at the same
time you're trying to rescue rapidly falling sales.
#1. TAKE DEFENSIVE ACTION IN ADVANCE -- DIVERSIFY
Diversification is your best defense against the impact of
change. This applies in 2 major areas:
* The products and/or services you offer * Your marketing
activities
The primary reason you want to offer a variety of related
products or services to your customers is to maximize your
income. But there's a second reason. Changing market conditions
or an aggressive competitor can cause sales for a product or
service to decline, often suddenly. The impact won't be
devastating if a variety of other products and services continue
to produce business for you.
The same applies to your marketing. You'll reach more prospects
and generate more sales by using a variety of marketing methods
instead of just one or two. But it also protects you from
suddenly losing a substantial volume of business because one of
your marketing methods stopped producing results.
TIP: Keep looking for and testing new marketing tools and old
ones you haven't tried yet.
#2. LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITY HIDDEN IN CHANGE
The challenge of change often forces you do discover a hidden
opportunity you can exploit to gain more business. I recently
spoke with the owner of a sporting goods store near a fast
growing city in the Southeast. 2 years ago a large retail chain
started building a new superstore nearby. The store included a
large sporting goods department. Jeff wasn't going to be able to
compete with their prices and stay in business.
Instead he set up a used sporting equipment section in his store
and started advertising to buy and sell used equipment. Today
most of Jeff's income is generated by sales of used equipment.
His total income has almost doubled and he's even planning to
expand his used equipment business to the Internet. It's an
opportunity Jeff wouldn't have recognized without the challenge
of competition from that superstore.
The biggest challenge to business success today is change.
Develop the habit of looking for the early signs that something
is changing and confront it before you're losing business. Take
defensive action against the impact of change by diversifying
the number of products and/or services you offer and using a
variety of different marketing methods. When you decide how to
respond to a challenge, look for a hidden opportunity to
increase business. You may find a source of additional sales and
profits you previously overlooked.
About the author:
Bob Leduc retired from a 30 year career of recruiting sales
personnel and developing sales leads. For more information...
mailto:BobLeduc@aol.com. Phone: (702) 658-1707 (After 10 AM
Pacific time) Or write: Bob Leduc, PO Box 33628, Las Vegas, NV
89133
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