A comedic thought for today.
Recently we wrote an article for Electrical Wholesaling categorizing distributors as smart growth companies, cash flow companies or reactor companies (and yes, some may be toxic!). The article will appear in the June issue. (if you would like a writer’s draft, email us – David, Allen)
A differentiator amongst the type of company is their approach to the market and their appetite for taking risks (and developing strategies). The approach can be epitomized in this Calvin and Hobbes comic:
Taking risk is critical to taking share.
Today’s WSJ highlights companies that are taking advantage of the recession to “bargain hunt”, using the recession as leverage to expand or gain better pricing. The article references United Airlines considering a $10 billion aircraft order with the suppliers financing it, Exxon increasing its investment in exploration and industrial equipment distributors seeking pricing concessions from their suppliers.
So how could you use others’ problems to create opportunities for yourself, presuming you have access to cash /credit (either your own or someone else’s)? Could you increase / improve your sales organization with new hires? Expand your reach through an acquisition? Diversify into a complementary market through acquisition (i.e. energy)? Perhaps get a better price on the ERP system you’ll need in a year or two? Consider an incentive program and use the travel slowdown to negotiate a good rate? Improve your facility (either a move, or an expansion – real estate is less expensive in many areas) or re-negotiate your lease.
Opportunities abound if you are willing to take risks.
And if you like stupefying security and prefer to be a cash flow company, make sure your inventory is sound, your pricing is competitive, costs are in line and processes are refined.
1 Comment
June 5, 2009 at 8:44 pm
I’m in the flat lands….but I can sure relate to running off the road.
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