Credit crunch? Downturn? Recession? Yeah if that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get. And if you’re a market leader with a dominant market share, a lot of ongoing business to protect, you may not feel that you are left with much choice. Your operations may include a large sluggish organization that will take months or even years to turn different. Consolidate and cost cutting will be your most probable way to adapt to the New Reality of a smaller world market.
To the rest of us out here, a situation like the one we see now is just a Ones-In-A-Lifetime Business Opportunity. As more and more companies are shifting their focus from growth and expansion, to cost-cutting and control, a new prosperous future is opening up to the guys who go for the Grab.
Consider this scenario; The main dominant player in your company’s market is right now turning his giant head and focus away from New product developments, Costly marketing campaigns, and New customer acquisition, and into Cost-cutting and trimming of their (a bit too relaxed?) staff.
What does this new situation mean to you? Finally the Bear has gone for his den to lick wounds and sleep out the winter, meaning a new Dawn is about to begin in your competitive game.
Most probably, up until today you have been banging your head against the solid marketing wall of your main competitors, which through their sheer size and well established business infrastructures have dominated your business field for years. Now that may all be about ready to change.
That is - if You are prepared to change it.
Should we not leave the decision of the future with our Customers? Never underestimate the power of this small guy called “customer”. He holds immense powers in his hands and he’s willing to exhort that power in his effort of cutting the best deals for his company’s “tomorrow”.
Now what drives your customers during time of recession? The Quest for the bargain price is definitely there during times like this. Whoever will be able to deliver an innovative, high quality product, on a new cost structure may actually define tomorrow’s Winner in your market. These large sluggish guys currently dominating your field (sorry GM J) may not have the necessary space – or pace - to effectively move their organization towards that new reality.
Customers will still be out there with their needs, no matter how bad things will get, and although they may spend even far less than what we have become accustomed to call “usual”, chances are that “the market” is still way big enough for You. This means very simply that there are always enough customers out there for the small Runner-up who is still willing to think anew, focus on his product development team to supply the most innovative products, provide the best service to his customers, and go out there and sell the package to them.
What seems a Catastrophe to many of today’s main corporations translates into New Opportunity to the rest of us. Will you be a part of Tomorrow?
Very true; That's the way that I perceive the current situation as well.
I wrote about it sometime back over here:
http://mahasen.blogspot.com/2009/01/can-offshore-software-service-company.html
Posted by: Mahasen | January 27, 2009 at 10:35 PM