Bloggy Business Today

Have you watched the pitchers in a Major League Baseball game recently? If you watch closely, you will see that every player seems to fill a role, providing a specialization that fills a particular need of the team. One pitcher starts the game, another faces a handful of batters in the middle innings, another for the late innings, and yet another comes in to close the game. Teams do this not just for convenience or to spread around the work, but also to keep from spreading their resources too thin. This concept of specialization is one that many business owners should take to heart.

One of the main reasons many businesses fail is because they try to do too many things. And it usually starts out innocently enough. In the spirit of “keeping the customer happy,” businesses often allow themselves to do work outiside of their defimed area. Before they know it, they have veered too far off the intended path and are no longer able to provide the same level of service in their core competency.

In many cases, it’s better off to simply turn down business or refer a customer to one of your competitors. This will demonstrate your commitment to your company’s product.

There are many advantages to having a specialty, or niche, and sticking with it.

First, having a niche allows you to become an expert at what you do. After a while, your customers will see you as the go-to company in your area. While other companies are scrambling to be all things to all people, you can pick your spots.

Second, having a specialty allows you to keep your resources (human, equipment, etc.) on a clearly defined goal.

Third, starting your business with a clearly defined niche allows you to pursue growth at a more deliberate and steady pace. As you accumulate success after success in your defined specialty, you can more leisurely add other areas of expertise to your core business competencies. This will allow you to keep youor growth under control and give you the opportunity to expand only when you are ready.

[tags]major_league_baseball, core_competency, business_competencies, core_business, specialization, business_owners, niche[/tags]

With a 24-7-365 news cycle, it’d be hard to avoid recent reports about the U.S. Economy and its struggles. If you watch the nightly news on a regular basis, you’re bound to hear the dreaded “R” word – recession – more than a few times. With the real estate market, stock market and interest rates all plunging lower than necklines at a high school prom, it would be easy for a lot of business owners to give into a “sky is falling” mentality. And many already have. At some point, all the negativity becomes a self-fulfiling prophecy for a lot of business owners.

Does all this gloom-and-doom about the economy mean you should be alarmed and change the very fabric of your business? Of course not.

Adapt and overcome. Don’t make a decision based on emotion or group hysteria. Be practical and keep a longer term view on things. Don’t water down your business be extending your services outside your normal areas of expertise. You’re liable to spread yourself too thin and make things more difficult for yourself. Your customers will repect you more at the end of the day if you stick to your guns.

Ideally, you should build your business in such a way that you are insulated somewhat from fluctuations in the market and downturns in the economy. If over time you find that your business moves to closely. If you can’t stomach the ups and downs, you

The economy rewards the bold and intrepid. Turn a potential negative into a positive. Be flexible enough that you can adapt your approach in tough times. But don’t stray too far away from your core competency. Your product or service is just as useful now as it is in any market. You just need to figure out better ways to let your customers in on this secret.

[tags]core_competency, hysteria, fluctuations, recession, stock_market, business_owners, interest_rates[/tags]