Break Out Opportunity: Is This Your Moment?

Posted on | July 18, 2008 | No Comments

Every now and again I like to put on my futurist hat and make a few predictions based on business and other trends.  Now, again, it’s one of those times.

As we watch giants like Starbucks and Borders Books (and countless financial firms) stumble, you might think “If they can’t make it, how can I?”

The truth is that at a certain point big companies become too big to change.  They wall themselves into their “lifestyle” in the same way that we as individuals do.  We buy the big house and the imported car and that forces us to stay in jobs we hate, and throws us into a downward spiral when we lose our jobs.

Because Starbucks has created a business plan that requires that each store look a certain way, be in a certain kind of location, make a certain amount of money to support other programs.  While they can stop opening new stores and lower their prices, that’s a short-term fix.  Their business model simply won’t support that long-term.

And that’s where you squeeze in.  If you’ve been dying to open a neighborhood coffee house, now may be the time to try.  Be careful not to try to build your own Starbucks.  It’s not working for them so it won’t work for you.  What might work for you is a comfy, cozy neighborhood coffeehouse with a game-changing product or way of pricing or selling coffee or othe merchandise (P.S. cheap coffee is neither game-changing nor sustainable).

The plight of Borders Books also presents an interesting opportunity for indie book sellers, both the bricks-and-mortar and online variety.  Borders is dying fast and not alone.  Its brethren is struggling too.  The opportunity here is not necessarily to open an indie book store, but to use the newly level playing field to compete as a (near) equal with branded booksellers who are struggling to make sense of the new tech-intensive indie marketing and sales channels for books (i.e. the Web, e-book stores, social networks).

The point here is that instead of being scared away by depressing economic news, look at your existing business or your business idea with a new eye.  Consider how you might exploit the turmoil in the market to establish you or your business as a player in any industry.

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