Kansas City Business Journal: Tech & Innovation : Business Advice

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Seems like 2008 left lots of peopler crying. So what does that mean for 2009? Once in a even Chicken Littleis right. The sky did fall in 2008, but that doesn'ty make Chicken Little a great Everyone isright sometimes. Use Chicken Little as your 2009 mode atyour peril. Bambji time is over. Capitalism has been described as "creativre destruction." We saw lots of destructiojn last year. It's time to focus on the creativr part. How do you do that in this environment? change how you think. For you'll need a battle plan, not just a businesa plan.
There's not one battle plan that works for but here are some universal principles for formulatingv your personalbattle plan: 1. DON'T FIGHT THE LAST WAR We don'yt know the future, but we know this year will be differenrt thanlast year, even if some 2008 problemx persist during 2009. Don't expect that dustinv off your 2008 plan will bring successin 2009. Sun Tzu, in "Ther Art of War" advises: "What enableds … the good general to strike and conquer, and achievwe things beyond the reach ofordinargy men, is foreknowledge.
" Resources are scarce these days but spend some time and a littls money getting information about changeds in your market and analyzs how they affect your company. 2. MIGRATION - THE HEAD IS MOVINyG If you've ever been to the Serengeti, you know that dry weatherr causes millions of animals to movevast distances. Business is like too. When everyone is fat, dumb and happy in their establishexmarket niches, they tend to stay there. Big changees occur more out of desperation than In times like the business herdstarts moving. You're in trouble if it's heading in your direction. Maybe your marketg niche has fared better than average in the generapeconomic downturn.
That's great, but don't congratulate yourself yet. If you have a good you'll be facing new competitors Why? Maybe your niche was too smalkl when other companies had lots of Maybe they were focused on products or customerse withhigher margins. If their othee opportunities dried up, your little nichew is probably looking pretty good tothem now. Assuminh there are safe havensis foolish. 3. MISFORTUNE BRING S NEW OPPORTUNITIES Good times brinh more opportunities thantough times, but all economicv conditions create new opportunities. Winners spot new opportunities and seizee them quickerthan others.