|
Strategic Updates
2008 Q4
update from Better San Diego
Hello there...I
hope this message finds you well and in great health and
spirits!
OUR NEW PRESIDENT
Well, we finally
know the identity of our new president and there are all
kinds of prognostications about what that means. One thing I
know for certain though is that no matter who you were
pulling for, the reality is that our economy is still going
to stink for a good chunk of time. The duration is still
subject to debate but I'm personally thinking about 4 to 5
years before everything gets close to the way we remember it
(although that also depends heavily on how much China grows
in that time).
So ask yourself
right now,
"What are we
doing right now to stabilize our business for the next few
years?"
Even better yet,
"What are we
doing now to grow our competitive edge and market share to
dominate when the economy gets better?"
RECESSION IS FUN
The recessionary
climate isn't great but it does have its perks.
For instance, our
family is saving up to buy some more property in a couple
years since I think that's when it'll hit bottom. Everyone
loves a sale and property will definitely still be on sale
in the next 18-24 months. I love getting a 40-50% discount
on anything but especially stuff that costs hundreds of
thousands of dollars!
Obviously, the
downside to our current economy is that business is
sluggish. It has affected us greatly as most companies use
credit of some kind to procure our services. Since
traditional lending is frozen at best, this has been tough
for us. But we do have a unique partner that can access
credit in the millions for companies based on a different
criteria altogether; so that's been a helpful alliance for
us to refer clients to. Please let me know if you would like
to get in touch with this fantastic and crucial service.
UNREALISTIC
Related to that,
we've had a lot of companies approach us and say, "We're
hurting big time and we heard that you can help us a lot. We
have some funds for your service but we want a 10x ROI in 18
months."
Well, I don't
know of any business service that can ever promise that so
we've politely said "no thanks" to those prospects.
Although there
are definitely times when we can forecast a 10x return but
to guarantee it, especially now is just plain lying.
The reality is
that if you haven't built a strategic advantage over the
years, now is probably a mandatory time to do so just to
survive and then to start capturing much greater returns
when the economy starts its uptick. If you don't have a
strategy that is growing customer loyalty as we speak, we
really need to talk...
seriously.
Another thing
that we've been recommending to folks is to really take a
hard look at their internal processes to eliminate wasted
time, money, staff effort and other valuable resources. Just
doing this will SAVE your company tens of thousands of
dollars a year that you can apply to other efforts to grow
your business.
We have a couple
services in this area but are also looking for a few
good case study companies for our Indigenous Quality
Movement process. We're reducing
our fees for this service by 70% for the right 3 or 4
companies. Please let us know soon if you want to apply.
|
