Strategic Planning |
Invalid Excuses for Poor Business Results - The Economy
Note to Rite Aid and CVS: It's not about the economy When Bill Clinton successfully unset the first President Bush, he focused on a sign in his Little Rock office: "It's the Economy, Stupid". His point was to focus his campaign on economical issues. Although the president has an impact on the economy of the nation as a whole, blaming the economy for poor sales or lost profits is nothing more than unmerited whining. In the state of Michigan, unemployment was the highest in the nation. At the same time, job growth was the lowest. This is not an economic scenario that normally leads one to invest heavily in a market. CVS and Rite Aid decided to ride out Michigan's economic storm, setting aside little capital to revitalize or grow their Michigan stores. Although seemingly an intelligent viewpoint, it does not display a passion to compete and grow over the long haul. Walgreen's Pharmacy saw Michigan through a different paradigm. They saw the opportunity to invest heavily in the state, taking advantage of the weak economy and depressed prices. Rochester Hills, Michigan, is an example of Walgreen's strategy. Only a few years ago, this city of 70,000 did not have one of their stores. By 2006, Walgreen's will complete a strategy to have four stores within city limits. The strategy was to locate stores using a parameter mentality, and a merchandise mix recognizing the local economy. Both CVS and Rite Aid have experienced lost market share, greater than the increase in competition. Neither chain is growing in Rochester Hills, although CVS did move one store from the center of a strip shopping center to a new location in the parking lot. According to high-ranking sources in Walgreen's Michigan region, there is a strong belief that by moving in now with the right merchandise mix and locations, the chain will be strongly positioned once the Michigan economy rebounds. Where CVS and Rite Aid see a need for cautious survival strategies, Walgreen's sees an opportunity to grow and thrive. The lesson is obvious. Instead of whining about the economy, looks for ways to adjust your product offering to the times, and position yourself to thrive once the economy rebounds, or your competition succumbs on their unsuccessful pathway of survival. Many Michigan-based companies are finding ways to attract out-of-state customers. At Max Impact, a human potential development company has made two strategic moves to thrive despite local economic conditions. The company has aligned itself with Macomb Community College to offer online customized corporate training programs, carrying CEU credits for the participants. They have also increased marketing of executive and professional coaching, which is done via the telephone, outside of Michigan. While many of their competitors struggle, the Max Impact is seeing double digit sales and profit growth. It's not about the economy. It is about seeing the total business environment and developing a strategy to position for the present and future. Rick Weaver is President of Max Impact, a national leadership and organization development company based in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Rick is an accomplished business executive with experience in retail, market analysis, supply chain and project management, team building, and process improvement. He has worked with hundreds of companies to improve sales, processes, and bottom-line results. MaxImpact offers leadership and organizational development services along with employee assessments and background checks. Contact Rick at 248-802-6138 or via email, rick@getmaximpact.com. MaxImpact is on the web at getmaximpact.com
MORE RESOURCES: |
RELATED ARTICLES
A Unique Joint Venture Twist: Make Huge Profits Even If You Have No Money, No Products, and No List Would you like to jumpstart your online or offline business without spending a ton of money?Without a doubt, joint venture marketing is the most powerful secret to making money online or offline.In its simplest form, you partner with someone else: You either sell their product to your customer base or they sell your product to theirs. Parking Business, the Details on Increasing Lot Revenue If you are in the parking business and own or manage parking lots you may want to think on some additional concepts to increase lot revenues. Whether you are looking to add value for your customers, expand your customer base, or simply increase your revenue, the addition of a car wash and/or detailing service to your parking facility may be the answer. 10 Critical Facts to Put On the Cover of Your Business Plan... In most business plans, no matter how striking the idea, the covers are critically important. The majority of investors may flip to the executive summary, if they get past the cover, when deciding whether or not they are interested. Scheduling of Additional Auto Detailing or Mobile Car Wash Units If you own a mobile car wash business or auto detailing business then you realize that when you are parked working you are making money and when you are stuck in traffic you are losing money. Sure you can say when you are in traffic people see you and write down the phone number, but you are not making money, that is potential future income, which is work you still must do in the future. Troubled Waters Require Capable Leaders at the Helm Canada's lean leaders need to look beyond the horizon and chart the futureIn stormy times, true leadership skills emerge, says Larry Coté, the President of Lean Advisors Inc. ( The Power of Strategic Thinking: Creating Meaningful Success Too much goal setting and strategic planning can leave you feeling like you're working against the forces of nature; too little and you end up where you never intended to be-with a life or business that is bigger, smaller, or different than what you genuinely desire. Though getting you and your organization where you most want them to be at any given time can be hard work it can also be exhilarating. What is Your MSP? For many consumers and producers, MSP is an acronym for Manufacturer's Suggested Price. Today, I would like you to consider a different definition for these commonly used letters -Marketing, Sales and Profitability. Corporate Venturing For Emerging Growth Companies The boom of the dot-com era in 1999 brought the emergence of corporate venture capital as a major source of funding to the private equity markets. Corporate venture investments peaked in the third quarter of 2000 with 608 deals totaling a combined $4. Planning for Success Business planning is widely acknowledged as one of the keys to business success. Yet there is still a great reluctance by small business owners in this area. Vendor Relations Strategies Sample Outline One of the quintessential parts to any business is your supply chain. To insure that the supplies are there when you need them; in this new day and age of "just in time" distribution where very little sits on warehouse shelves until you order it you will need excellent vendor relations. Take A Systems View To Ensure Your Business Stays Healthy How are you feeling today? Good, not so good, great? Let me ask the same question in a different way: How is your gastro-intestinal system functioning today? What about your lymphatic system? How's the old circulatory system flowing along? Are all your bodily systems aligned, in sync, and cranking at peak performance?In order to get everything done perfectly and on time, your body must use many systems that effectively work side by side. Just as it is important to take a systems view when it comes to your body's health and well-being, it is equally important that you have a clear understanding of your business and its organizational systems. Why Six Sigma Will Work in Healthcare If ever there were an industry where we want zero defects, it's healthcare. Patients, medical professionals, and healthcare administrators all want mistakes eliminated and quality and efficiency improved. Writing a Business Plan for Success in Business and for Funding Writing a business plan to help you direct and manage your company is a key part of starting you new company that will help lead you and your company to success. Creating a "living and breathing" business plan makes that success even easier to reach. Dotcom Business Plans Archive Project One of the most important initiatives in the domain of business documentation is that of professor David Kirsch from the University of Maryland, who thought of a dotcom Business Plan Archive - , a project that consists of collecting business plans for posterity. The project was started in 2002, through the Web portal businessplanarchive. Designing an Efficient Distribution System Let us look at a few of the big distribution networks in the US that we use today. The US Post Office for instance is a huge complex chain of symbiotic relations ships with vendors to deliver by truck, work with FED EX for air, previously that airmail idea started commercial aviation. Microsoft Great Plains in Advertising & Publishing - implementation highlights Microsoft Great Plains, former Great Plains Dynamics is excellent fit for service oriented business and in this small article we'll give you magazine publisher and advertiser implementation and reporting scenarios. The system we describe is not real, we are putting together industry specifics, based on our consulting practice. Microsoft Great Plains in Agriculture - implementation highlights In this small article we'll concentrate on farmers associations and non-profit state-sponsored organizations, dealing with subsidized state and federal programs distribution and management - loans to farmers and rural communities. As we realized this is relatively narrow market niche and it is almost ignored by software developers. Menu Driven Business Planning A menu is the foundation of any restaurant; Guests will support or avoid a restaurant for its food. Starting with a preliminary menu is a simple and basic approach to restaurant development. When Do I Need To Hire A Business Plan Consultant Every new business owner knows that a business plan is critical - it is drilled into them by potential investors and every banking officer they meet. So why is something that is so important to the launch of a new venture so difficult to write? Good question! In this article I will try to address when you should go out and hire a business plan writer versus taking on the task yourself. Attributes of Companies You Dont Want to Buy! There are no "rules of thumb" in the pursuit of companies to buy. Each purchase opportunity has to stand on its own merits. |
home | site map |
© 2013 |