When someone says something is “impossible,” are they being realistic — or are they giving themselves a reason to not try? Believing something is impossible holds us back from pushing through and reaching our goals. Fortunately, many business leaders have been confronted with the notion of a seemingly impossible feat, such as competing against the biggest company in their industry, and their success proves that it is possible.
How do they do it? Here’s their secret: Everyone has weak spots — even large companies. The small companies that end up taking market share away from the behemoths do so because they have been able to see the giant’s weak spots, just as David saw Goliath’s. And they were better at accurately anticipating the small (or large) shifts within their space or their customer base. When a small business owner is able to identify those potential crises within their industry, they can react to them and build strengths where the bigger companies cannot.
Tony's business strategy series unlocks that 7 key factors that will make or break your business
Free workshopHere are the three things that can create crisis in a business, so that you can anticipate, too:
Crisis #1 — Not being prepared for competition
If you stay ready, then you don’t ever have to get ready. A competitor is always just around the corner. When something becomes more profitable, or cheaper, there will always be competition. Netflix went up against Blockbuster and effectively took them out. They created a crisis for the aging turnkey business, something they were not expecting, simply because they failed to anticipate. The lesson? Anticipating competition is the only way divert a devastating fall.
