Reinvent Your Business or Go Bust
Reinvent your business or go bust is no exaggeration, adapt or die, “survival of the fittest” all variations of the same message. For a business it is clear, you either change to the prevailing market conditions or suffer the consequences. Your personal feelings about the changing market conditions is irrelevant, adapt or die. Love or hate “AI”, you either adapt to the existence of “AI” in your industry or figure a way to be a contrarian, if your audience share your sentiments. Make no mistake, AI is coming, are you ready?
When you hear something on the news, the market has already started to price the information into its value. Humans, along with markets, react at the speed of human fear and greed.
The market has no feelings; it doesn’t care what you think or what you know. It is a direct reflection of society and its values.
The market has no feelings; it doesn’t care what you think or what you know. It is a direct reflection of society and its values.
If you want to put your finger on the pulse of what humans were feeling in the past, look at market data. The fortunes of businesses in any society reveal many things. Going back to the earliest settlements, we know they valued shelter, security, and nourishment—basic human needs, for sure. But they also valued adornment, ritual, and especially knowledge and technology.
Technology is everything in the man-made world. Go back to every single turning point in history, and somewhere, someone will have changed outcomes with new technology. From improving crop yields to warfare, the ability to out-think the competition remains as crucial now as it was then.
Society’s values are now inherently bound to technology. We all love the ease with which we can access heat, light, and power. The convenience of modern life is undeniable, and we’re lucky to have what we do. But we risk a bigger problem than our reliance on technology, and it may be what has taken down ancient civilizations in the past. Society has shifted in values; it may even be a benign drift, or it could be a hard switch by a change in ruling class. But here’s the problem I foresee: We forget.
“There are two types of people: Engineers, and those who need Engineers,”
A C J Morrison – Engineer
“There are two types of people: Engineers, and those who need Engineers,” as my grandfather used to say when I was being encouraged towards an apprenticeship.
During my RAE Apprenticeship, we were often told we were “the best of the best,” and the machinists starting to learn CAD/CAM, as it was then, were thought of as “the best of the best of the best,” or so it seemed. The hand tool guys, like me, were the grunts. We used hammers and chisels like cavemen; “spanner monkey” was the term.
The future was bright for CAD/CAM operators. They’d forge glittering careers with huge salaries and a future with NASA, Boeing, or other engineering giant was almost your right.
Fast forward to 2023, and I have just seen a job vacancy for CNC Millers/Turners advertising a pay scale of £10.50 – £16.00. Then I saw “Overnight Staff Member Liphook Services North – Full Time £13 per hour”. You can earn more as a fast-food worker than as a skilled engineer.
There’s no hint of me trying to be outraged, the market doesn’t care. The market has simply priced in the societal value of each role and thus determined their worth. A skilled engineer is now worth less to society than someone serving fast food. That’s not a personal judgment; that’s a market fact, our combined behaviours as humans created the conditions for that fact to exist, no point shouting about it or getting upset.
So, now look at your own business. Are you delivering what the market wants? And if you are, are you delivering it in a way the market values? Very often, you will see different price points for seemingly identical services and products, but there may be many reasons why one achieves a higher price.
Only three things are of value to a market:
- Speed – Does it save time, speed up a process, improve margin?
- Price – Is it more cost-effective, better value, or lower cost of ownership?
- Quality – Will it last longer, appear nicer, or have unique features?
But, as a business, you can only pick two of those.
You want quality, NOW? You’ll pay a premium. You want it whenever, made of cardboard? Then you instinctively know it should be cheaper. But if your customer only wants a cheap box made of cardboard because the cost has to be as low as possible, then do not try selling handcrafted, highly decorated tungsten boxes at a premium price; you’ll struggle.
I often see local small business owners struggling because they won’t adapt to market demand, or have an absolutely amazing business but charge too little. Every business has to adapt to market conditions or die. Fail to price in a rise in costs, you make less profit and struggle to pay bills. If you deliver an exemplary service or best-in-class product then start to think about enhancing your pricing. Doesn’t always have to be a direct price rise, but you may charge more for faster outcomes. You might limit the number of a specific item, or decrease the overall size or quantity.
Let’s say you reduced the size of the boxes, making them a lot smaller and made it fit an iPhone; if you are using tungsten you could charge a premium. The market would find a cardboard case less appealing.
My point is, are you selling the right product to the right audience? Can you adapt what you do, find a new audience that appreciates it, and deliver it well and at a premium? Do you have the right marketing message and are you delivering the right value to your customers?
It’s not about features, it’s not event about benefits really, it’s the value of the outcome once the customer has given you their hard-earned money.
So, look at your own website, if a stranger arrived, would they be able to quickly judge the value of your business to their needs? Would they look further? Peruse your products? Or set up a call or meeting?
Go to my homepage and you will see the exact value I offer, help growing a business, if you are not interested stop reading there… If you are interested, then you’ll likely read on.
So, if you do want to grow your local business and would value a conversation that you’ll remember for a while, and will 100% Guarantee you a lot to think about and some cool ideas then set up a meeting!
First published 07-Mar-24 © stuartmorrison.com
Photo Credit: Dall.E
