Steve Clark: Change or Die

In 2008 business got off to a great start when Dan Smith – not his real name- opened a video store in my town. He and his wife remodeled a storefront and opened with 500 video titles. Revenue rose each month, and he plowed the money back into the store, gradually expanding his collection to 5,000 videos.

Then, in early 2009, a Redbox opened outside the Winn-Dixie across the street. Smith’s business begin going down, down, down. Redbox, a national chain, rented new releases for $1 a day, something no Mom-and-Pop store could do. Smith struggled to rent out a new release for $3.75.

Competition and innovation are big reasons why video stores and many other businesses have vanished from neighborhoods where they were fixtures not long ago. Smith feels the pressure, but he’s proud his store is still open, the last independent video rental venture for miles around.

“If you can do something better, cheaper, and smarter, that’s what America’s all about”, he said, gesturing toward the Redbox that has captured so many of his customers. “I’m not mad at anybody … I wish I had thought of the idea first.”

“Everything was fine until technology caught up with us,” he said.

Smith’s business has since closed it doors.

A friend of mine, who was a travel agent, lost most of her business when internet bookings took off. She has since closed her travel agency business and started another business. The cell phone has put a huge dent and downward pricing pressure on the traditional landline phone business. In a few years, smart phones, which will be able to do everything your laptop now does, will do the same for computers.

On a personal note, my business has been affected by the internet. No longer do companies have to spend a small fortune sending their salespeople out of town for sales training or sales management training seminars. Today, with the advent of webinars and teleseminars, sales managers and sales reps can acquire new sales skills by sitting in the comfort of their home or business where they can consume information via the web at a fraction of the cost to attend out of town seminars. The impact for me has been sobering; creating a downward pressure on pricing, a greater difficulty in filling live workshops and seminars and more resistance to fees I charge for coaching and consulting.

Technology, increased global competition and marketplace changes are three powerful forces affecting every business today. Because of these forces, the attitudes, skills, beliefs, sales and marketing processes, product offerings and market focus that got you or your business to its current level will not suffice to get you to the next level. Not only will your current ways of doing business not get you to the next level, they will not be enough to sustain your current level of success long-term.

If you are to survive and thrive in this high speed new economy, you must reinvent yourself and your business. As Dan Kennedy, one of my mentors says, “if you are trying to do business 3 to 5 years from now the way you are currently doing business, chances are you won’t be in business at all.” A sobering thought indeed.