HOW WILL YOUR BUSINESS RESPOND TO THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGE?

Written by Bob Leduc


Most new business owners expect to devote a lot of time and effort to getting their business established. Then, they plan to relax asrepparttar business "runs itself" and continues to grow. This was an achievable goal inrepparttar 106871 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 reachrepparttar 106872 point where you know your business so well you can stop learning. Just when you think you've masteredrepparttar 106873 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 impactrepparttar 106874 growth of your business. You can developrepparttar 106875 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 atrepparttar 106876 same time you're trying to rescue rapidly falling sales.

#1. TAKE DEFENSIVE ACTION IN ADVANCE -- DIVERSIFY

Diversification is your best defense againstrepparttar 106877 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.

Good Morning, Costa Rica or Originality Counts

Written by June Campbell


Originality counts -- and you'll be counting your sales figures when you implement your original ideas in your product line, marketing and sales materials.

Take a look at many ofrepparttar headlines and advertisements that you come across onrepparttar 106870 Web and in newspapers and other media.

Same old, same old. Most barely make an impression on your consciousness.

Onrepparttar 106871 other hand, who will ever forgetrepparttar 106872 Energizer Bunny? That rabbit is one original little hopper. Bunny, of course, wasrepparttar 106873 product of a highly creative advertising team. The rest of us will have to struggle a little harder to find original ideas for our small businesses.

Originality counts, but being original isn't always easy.

Here'srepparttar 106874 thing. Most people within an identified culture or ethnic group are hot-wired to come up with very similar responses when presented with a word, concept or product.

But strangely, we all tend to think our response is unique and special and that no one has previously thought of it.

I've noticed this for a long time -- at least for as long as my name has been June, which is to say, all of my life. Ever since I can remember, on being introduced, people are prone to announce gleefully, "JUNE BUG!"

I don't mind being called June Bug. There are worse names. But I do marvel at how each and every person who says this believes that I am hearing this wonderfully witty remark forrepparttar 106875 first time. Yeah,repparttar 106876 first time this morning, maybe.

You'd think I'd know better than to fall intorepparttar 106877 trap of "same old, same old" thinking myself, given that I've been complaining about it since childhood. But no.

A few years ago, I attended a 10-month multimedia course. One of our assignments was to writerepparttar 106878 story line for a Costa Rican travel video. We were told that film star Robin Williams would be providingrepparttar 106879 voice-over in our imaginary film.

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